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Which way did your lover turn,
that we may look for him with you?
2 My lover has gone to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3 I am my lover’s and my lover is mine;
he feeds among the lilies.
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awesome as an army marching with banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing.
Each of them has its twin,
and not one of them is missing.
7 Your temples are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
8 There may be sixty queens,
and eighty concubines,
and virgins beyond number.
9 But my dove, my virtuous one, is unique;
she is the only daughter of her mother,
the favourite of the one who bore her.
The maidens saw her and called her blessed;
queens and concubines sing her praises.
10 Who is this that shines like the dawn,
fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
as awesome as an army marching with banners?
11 I went down to the grove of nut trees
to see the blossoms of the valley,
to see if the vines were budding,
or the pomegranates blooming.
12 Before I was realised it,
my desire set me among the chariots of my noble people.
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 of the Mahanaim?