Song of Songs 6-8

New International Version

6 Where has your beloved^(A) gone,
    most beautiful of women?^(B)
Which way did your beloved turn,
    that we may look for him with you?

² My beloved has gone^(C) down to his garden,^(D)
    to the beds of spices,^(E)
to browse in the gardens
    and to gather lilies.
³ I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;^(F)
    he browses among the lilies.^(G)

⁴ You are as beautiful as Tirzah,^(H) my darling,
    as lovely as Jerusalem,^(I)
    as majestic as troops with banners.^(J)
5 Turn your eyes from me;
    they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
    descending from Gilead.^(K)
6 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
    coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin,
    not one of them is missing.^(L)
7 Your temples behind your veil^(M)
    are like the halves of a pomegranate.^(N)
8 Sixty queens^(O) there may be,
    and eighty concubines,^(P)
    and virgins beyond number;
⁹ but my dove,^(Q) my perfect one,^(R) is unique,
    the only daughter of her mother,
    the favorite of the one who bore her.^(S)
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
    the queens and concubines praised her.

¹⁰ Who is this that appears like the dawn,
    fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
    majestic as the stars in procession?

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.^(T)
12 Before I realized it,
    my desire set me among the royal chariots of my people.^[a]

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^(U) of Mahanaim?^[b]

May the wine go straight to my beloved,^(AF)
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.^[d]
10 I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire^(AG) is for me.^(AH)
11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.^[e]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards^(AI)
    to see if the vines have budded,^(AJ)
if their blossoms^(AK) have opened,
    and if the pomegranates^(AL) are in bloom^(AM)—
    there I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes^(AN) send out their fragrance,
    and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
    that I have stored up for you, my beloved.^(AO)

⁵ Who is this coming up from the wilderness^(AS)
    leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I roused you;
    there your mother conceived^(AT) you,
    there she who was in labor gave you birth.
⁶ Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love^(AU) is as strong as death,
    its jealousy^[f](AV) unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.^[g]
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it^[h] would be utterly scorned.^(AW)

⁸ We have a little sister,
    and her breasts are not yet grown.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day she is spoken for?
⁹ If she is a wall,
    we will build towers of silver on her.
If she is a door,
    we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

¹⁰ I am a wall,
    and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
    like one bringing contentment.
¹¹ Solomon had a vineyard^(AX) in Baal Hamon;
    he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
    a thousand shekels^[i](AY) of silver.
¹² But my own vineyard^(AZ) is mine to give;
    the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
    and two hundred^[j] are for those who tend its fruit.

¹³ You who dwell in the gardens
    with friends in attendance,
    let me hear your voice!

¹⁴ Come away, my beloved,
    and be like a gazelle^(BA)
or like a young stag^(BB)
    on the spice-laden mountains.^(BC)