| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you? | 1Where has your lover gone, O woman of rare beauty? Which way did he turn so we can help you find him? Young Woman |
| 2My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. | 2My lover has gone down to his garden, to his spice beds, to browse in the gardens and gather the lilies. |
| 3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies. | 3I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine. He browses among the lilies. Young Man |
| 4You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. | 4You are beautiful, my darling, like the lovely city of Tirzah. Yes, as beautiful as Jerusalem, as majestic as an army with billowing banners. |
| 5Turn away your eyes from me, for they overwhelm me— Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead. | 5Turn your eyes away, for they overpower me. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead. |
| 6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing; all of them bear twins; not one among them has lost its young. | 6Your teeth are as white as sheep that are freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin. |
| 7Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate behind your veil. | 7Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates behind your veil. |
| 8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. | 8Even among sixty queens and eighty concubines and countless young women, |
| 9My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. | 9I 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 who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” | 10“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?” Young Woman |
| 11I 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. | 11I 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. |
| 12Before I was aware, my desire set me among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince. | 12Before I realized it, my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man. Young Women of Jerusalem |
| 13Return, return, O Shulammite, return, return, that we may look upon you. He Why should you look upon the Shulammite, as upon a dance before two armies? | 13 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? |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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