Together in the Garden The Friends 1 UST You who are the most beautiful of the women, where has the man you love gone? Tell us which direction he went, and we will go with you to search for him. The woman speaking to herself BSB BSB: Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.
The Bride 2 UST The man who I love has come to me. I am like his garden where pleasant spices grow. He has come to enjoy my body as a gazelle enjoys grazing in a garden and as a person enjoys picking lilies. BSB BSB: My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
3 UST I belong to the man I love, and he belongs to me. He feels pleasure when he is near me, as a gazelle does when eating among lilies. The man speaking BSB BSB: I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
The Bridegroom 4 UST My dear one, you are beautiful. You are as beautiful as the city of Tirzah and as lovely as the city of Jerusalem. You are as exciting and majestic to look at as an army with banners. BSB BSB: You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
5 UST Stop looking at me like that, because your eyes excite me very much. Your long black hair moves from side to side like a flock of black goats moving down the slopes of Mount Gilead. BSB BSB: Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
6 UST Your teeth are very white, white like a flock of sheep that has just come up from being washed in a stream. You have all of your teeth on both sides of your mouth; none of them is missing. BSB BSB: Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin, and not one of them is lost.
7 UST Beneath your veil, your cheeks are round and rosy like the halves of a pomegranate. BSB BSB: Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.
8 UST Even if a king had 60 queens and 80 concubines and more young women in his court than anyone can count, BSB BSB: There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number,
9 UST none of them would be as special as she is. She is like a dove; she is flawless. Her mother considers her to be very special; she is her mother’ s favorite child. When the young women of the king’ s court see her, they say that she is fortunate, and the queens and concubines praise her. BSB BSB: but 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 Friends 10 UST Look at this woman who appears like the dawn, who is as beautiful to look at as the moon, who is radiant like the sun, who is as exciting and majestic to look at as an army with banners! BSB BSB: Who is this who shines like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright as the sun, as majestic as the stars in procession?
The Bridegroom 11 UST I went down to the walnut tree orchard to look at the new plants that were growing in the valley. I wanted to see if the grapevines had budded and if the pomegranate trees were blooming. BSB BSB: I 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.
12 UST All of a sudden I imagined that I was among the chariots of my noble people. The women of Jerusalem speaking BSB BSB: Before I realized it, my desire had set me among the royal chariots of my people.
The Friends 13 UST Come back to us, beautiful woman from Shulam, come back to us, in order that we may see you! The man speaking Why do you want to look at the beautiful woman from Shulam, as if she were a dancer who dances to entertain armies? BSB BSB: Come 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?
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.