1 ¶ Where has thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where didst thy beloved separate himself? that we may seek him with thee.

2 M y beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather the lilies.

3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; he feeds among the lilies.

4 ¶ Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as desirable as Jerusalem, imposing as the standard-bearer of the army.

5 T urn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me; thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.

6 T hy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which every one bears twins, and there is not one barren among them.

7 A s slices of pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.

8 T here are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.

9 M y dove is but one, my perfect one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that brought her into the light. The virgins saw her and called her blessed; yea, the queens and the concubines and they praised her.

10 W ho is she that shows herself forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and imposing as the standard-bearer of the army?

11 ¶ I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vines flourished, and the pomegranates budded.

12 O r ever I was aware, my soul made me return like the chariots of Amminadib.

13 R eturn, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? She shall be as a multitude of tabernacles.