New International Version NIV
New Living Translation NLT
1 Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your beloved turn, that we may look for him with you?
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Where has your lover gone, O woman of rare beauty? Which way did he turn so we can help you find him?
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.
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My lover has gone down to his garden, to his spice beds, to browse in the gardens and gather the lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he browses among the lilies.
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I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine. He browses among the lilies.
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
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You are beautiful, my darling, like the lovely city of Tirzah. Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem, as majestic as an army with billowing banners.
5 Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead.
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Turn your eyes away, for they overpower me. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. Each has its twin, not one of them is missing.
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Your teeth are as white as sheep that are freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin.
7 Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate.
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Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates behind your veil.
8 Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number;
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Even among sixty queens and eighty concubines and countless young women,
9 but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
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I would still choose my dove, my perfect one— the favorite of her mother, dearly loved by the one who bore her. The young women see her and praise her; even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:
10 Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession?
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“Who is this, arising like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”
11 I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.
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I went down to the grove of walnut trees and out to the valley to see the new spring growth, to see whether the grapevines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 Before I realized it, my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.
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Before I realized it, my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.
13 Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, that we may gaze on you! Why would you gaze on the Shulammite as on the dance of Mahanaim?
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Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam. Come back, come back, that we may see you again. Young Man Why do you stare at this young woman of Shulam, as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers?
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.
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Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.