The Women
1 Most beautiful of women,
where has your lover gone?
Tell us which way your lover went,
so that we can help you find him.
The Woman
2 My lover has gone to his garden,
where the balsam trees grow.
He is feeding his flock in the garden
and gathering lilies.
3 My lover is mine, and I am his;
he feeds his flock among the lilies.
The Fifth Song
The Man
4 My love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem,
as lovely as the city of Tirzah,
as breathtaking as these great cities.
5 Turn your eyes away from me;
they are holding me captive.
Your hair dances like a flock of goats
bounding down the hills of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are as white as a flock of sheep
that have just been washed.
Not one of them is missing;
they are all perfectly matched.
7 Your cheeks glow behind your veil.
8 Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines,
young women without number!
9 But I love only one,
and she is as lovely as a dove.
She is her mother's only daughter,
her mother's favorite child.
All women look at her and praise her;
queens and concubines sing her praises.
10 Who is this whose glance is like the dawn?
She is beautiful and bright,
as dazzling as the sun or the moon.
11 I have come down among the almond trees
to see the young plants in the valley,
to see the new leaves on the vines
and the blossoms on the pomegranate trees.
12 I am trembling; you have made me as eager for love
as a chariot driver is for battle.
The Women
13 Dance, dance, girl of Shulam.
Let us watch you as you dance.
The Woman
Why do you want to watch me
as I dance between the rows of onlookers?
1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee. 2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
4 ¶ Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. 5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead. 6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them. 7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks. 8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. 9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea , the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
10 ¶ Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded. 12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib. 13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.