The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 [Chorus] Where has your darling gone, you most beautiful of women? Which way did your darling turn, so that we can help you find him?
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Where is your loved one gone, O most fair among women? Where is your loved one turned away, that we may go looking for him with you?
2 [She] My darling went down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
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My loved one is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to take food in the gardens, and to get lilies.
3 I belong to the man I love, and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
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I am for my loved one, and my loved one is for me; he takes food among the lilies.
4 [He] You are as beautiful as Tirtzah, my love, as lovely as Yerushalayim, but formidable as an army marching under banners.
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You are beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as fair as Jerusalem; you are to be feared like an army with flags.
5 Turn your eyes away from me, because they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Gil'ad.
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Let your eyes be turned away from me; see, they have overcome me; your hair is as a flock of goats which take their rest on the side of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep that have just come up from being washed; each of them is matched, and none of them is missing.
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Your teeth are like a flock of sheep which come up from the washing; every one has two lambs, and there is not one without young.
7 Your cheeks are like a pomegranate split open behind your veil.
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Like pomegranate fruit are the sides of your head under your veil.
8 There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, as well as young women beyond number;
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There are sixty queens, and eighty servant-wives, and young girls without number.
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, her mother's only child, the darling of the one who bore her.
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My dove, my very beautiful one, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the dearest one of her who gave her birth. The daughters saw her, and gave her a blessing; yes, the queens and the servant-wives, and they gave her praises.
10 The daughters see her and call her happy; the queens and concubines praise her. "Who is this, shining forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun"-but formidable as an army marching under banners?
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Who is she, looking down as the morning light, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, who is to be feared like an army with flags?
11 [She] I had gone down to the nut orchard to see the fresh green plants in the valley, to see if the vine had budded,
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I went down into the garden of nuts to see the green plants of the valley, and to see if the vine was in bud, and the pomegranate-trees were in flower.
12 or if the pomegranate trees were in bloom. Before I knew it, I found myself in a chariot, and with me was a prince.
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Before I was conscious of it, ...
13 [Chorus] Come back, come back, girl from Shulam! Come back, come back to where we can see you! Why are you looking at the girl from Shulam as if she were dancing for two army camps?
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Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, so that our eyes may see you. What will you see in the Shulammite? A sword-dance.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.