Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 [Daughters of Jerusalem]Which way did your lover go, you who are the most beautiful of women? Which way did your lover turn, that we may look for him along with you?
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Where has your beloved gone, O fairest among women? Which way has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
2 [Woman]My lover has gone down to his garden, to the fragrant plantings, to graze in the gardens, to gather the lilies.
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My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
3 I belong to my lover and my lover belongs to me— the one grazing among the lilies.
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I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
4 [Man]You are as beautiful, my dearest, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, formidable as those lofty sights.
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You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me, for they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats as they stream down from Gilead.
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Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats, moving down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes as they come up from the washing pool— all of them perfectly matched, not one of them lacks its twin.
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Your teeth are like a flock of ewes, that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved.
7 Like a slice of pomegranate is the curve of your face behind the veil of your hair.
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Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil.
8 There may be sixty queens and eighty secondary wives, young women beyond counting,
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There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number.
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is one of a kind. To her mother she's the only one, radiant to the one who bore her. Young women see her and declare her fortunate; queens and secondary wives praise her.
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My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the darling of her mother, flawless to her that bore her. The maidens saw her and called her happy; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her.
10 Who is this, gazing down like the morning star, beautiful as the full moon, radiant as the sun, formidable as those lofty sights?
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"Who is this that looks forth like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army with banners?"
11 [Man]To the nut grove I went down to look upon the fresh growth in the valley, to see whether the vine was in flower, whether the pomegranates had bloomed.
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I went down to the nut orchard, to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I hardly knew myself; she had set me in an official's chariot!
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Before I was aware, my fancy set me in a chariot beside my prince.
13 [Man] Come back, come back, Shulammite! Come back, come back, so we may admire you. How you all admire the Shulammite as she whirls between two circles of dancers!
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Return, return, O Shulammite! Return, return, that we may look upon you. Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies?
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.