1[[Lad.]] Whither is thy beloved gone, thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved betaken himself? That we may seek him with thee.

2[[M.]] My beloved is gone down to his garden, To the beds of balsam, To feed in the gardens, And to gather lilies.

3I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine; He feedeth among the lilies.

4Beautiful art thou, my love, as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem; But terrible as an army with banners.

5Turn away thine eyes from me! They overpower me! Thy locks are like a flock of goats, Which lie down upon Gilead.

6Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep, Which come up from the washing-place, Of which every one hath twins, And none is barren among them.

7As a divided pomegranate Are thy cheeks behind thy veil.

8Threescore are the queens, and fourscore the concubines, And the maidens without number.

9But my dove, my undefiled, is the one; She is the incomparable one of her mother, The darling of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; The queens and concubines, and they praised her.

10[[Lov.]] Who is this that looketh forth like the morning, Fair as the moon, bright as the sun, And terrible as an army with banners?

11[[M.]] I went down into the garden of nuts, To see the green plants of the valley, To see whether the vine blossomed, And the pomegranates budded.

12Or ever I was aware, My soul had made me like the chariots of the prince's train.

13[[Lad.]] Return, return, O Shulamite! Return, return, that we may look upon thee! [[M.]] Why should ye look upon the Shulamite, As upon a dance of the hosts?