¹I am a rose1 of Sharon,

a lily of the valleys.

He

²As a lily among brambles,

so is my love among the young women.

She

³As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my beloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat in his shadow,

and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

⁴He brought me to the banqueting house,2

and his banner over me was love.

⁵Sustain me with raisins;

refresh me with apples,

for I am sick with love.

⁶His left hand is under my head,

and his right hand embraces me!

⁷I adjure you,3 O daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

⁸The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping over the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

⁹My beloved is like a gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

¹⁰My beloved speaks and says to me:

“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

¹¹for behold, the winter is past;

the rain is over and gone.

¹²The flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing4 has come,

and the voice of the turtledove

is heard in our land.

¹³The fig tree ripens its figs,

and the vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

¹⁴O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me hear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is lovely.

¹⁵Catch the foxes5 for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

for our vineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶My beloved is mine, and I am his;

he grazes6 among the lilies.

¹⁷Until the day breathes

and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.7