Together in the Garden
The Bride
The Friends
1Where has your beloved gone,
O most beautiful among women?
Which way has he turned?
We will seek him with you.
2My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to pasture his flock in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
The Bridegroom
3I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me;
he pastures his flock among the lilies.
4You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as majestic as troops with banners.
5Turn your eyes away from me,
for they have overcome me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.
6Your teeth are like a flock of sheep
coming up from the washing;
each has its twin,
and not one of them is lost.
7Your brow behind your veil
is like a slice of pomegranate.
8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,
and maidens without number,
The Friends
9but my dove, my perfect one, is unique,
the favorite of the mother who bore her.
The maidens see her and call her blessed;
the queens and concubines sing her praises.
The Bridegroom
10Who is this who shines like the dawn,
as fair as the moon,
as bright as the sun,
as majestic as the stars in procession?
11I went down to the walnut grove
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding
or the pomegranates were in bloom.
The Friends
12Before I realized it, my desire had set me
among the royal chariots of my people.a
The Bridegroom
13Come back, come back, O Shulammite!
Come back, come back, that we may gaze upon you.
Why do you look at the Shulammite,
as on the dance of Mahanaim?b