New International Version NIV
Common English Bible CEB
1 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead.
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[Man]Look at you—so beautiful, my dearest! Look at you—so beautiful! Your eyes are doves behind the veil of your hair! Your hair is like a flock of goats as they stream down Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone.
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Your teeth are like newly shorn ewes as they come up from the washing pool— all of them perfectly matched, not one of them lacks its twin.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
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Like a crimson ribbon are your lips; when you smile, it is lovely. Like a slice of pomegranate is the curve of your face behind the veil of your hair.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built with courses of stone ; on it hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
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Like David's tower is your neck, splendidly built! A thousand shields are hung upon it— all the weapons of the warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.
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Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle doe, that graze among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense.
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Before the day breeze blows and the shadows flee, I will be off to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
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You are utterly beautiful, my dearest; there's not a single flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of leopards.
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[Man]Come down with me from Lebanon, my bride— if only you would come down with me from Lebanon. Descend from the peak of Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountain lairs of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
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You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride! You have captured my heart with one glance from your eyes, with one strand of your necklace.
10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume more than any spice!
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How beautiful is your loving, my sister, my bride! Your loving is so much better than wine, and your fragrance better than any perfume!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
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Sweetness drops from your lips, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.
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An enclosed garden is my sister, my bride; an enclosed pool, a sealed spring.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard,
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Your limbs are an orchard of pomegranates with all kinds of luscious fruit, henna, and spices:
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.
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nard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all scented woods, myrrh, and aloes, with the very choicest perfumes!
15 You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.
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You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water, streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.
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Stir, north wind, and come, south wind!Blow upon my garden; let its perfumes flow! [Woman]Let my love come to his garden; let him eat its luscious fruit!
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible