New Living Translation

1 Where has your lover gone,<br>O woman of rare beauty?<br>Which way did he turn<br>so we can help you find him?<br> 2 My lover has gone down to his garden,<br>to his spice beds,<br>to browse in the gardens<br>and gather the lilies.<br> 3 I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.<br>He browses among the lilies.<br> 4 You are beautiful, my darling,<br>like the lovely city of Tirzah.<br>Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem,<br>as majestic as an army with billowing banners.<br> 5 Turn your eyes away,<br>for they overpower me.<br>Your hair falls in waves,<br>like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.<br> 6 Your teeth are as white as sheep<br>that are freshly washed.<br>Your smile is flawless,<br>each tooth matched with its twin.<br> 7 Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates<br>behind your veil.<br> 8 Even among sixty queens<br>and eighty concubines<br>and countless young women,<br> 9 I would still choose my dove, my perfect one —<br>the favorite of her mother,<br>dearly loved by the one who bore her.<br>The young women see her and praise her;<br>even queens and royal concubines sing her praises:<br> 10 “Who is this, arising like the dawn,<br>as fair as the moon,<br>as bright as the sun,<br>as majestic as an army with billowing banners?”<br> 11 I went down to the grove of walnut trees<br>and out to the valley to see the new spring growth,<br>to see whether the grapevines had budded<br>or the pomegranates were in bloom.<br> 12 Before I realized it,<br>my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.<br> 13 Return, return to us, O maid of Shulam.<br>Come back, come back, that we may see you again. <b>Young Man</b><br> Why do you stare at this young woman of Shulam,<br>as she moves so gracefully between two lines of dancers?<br>