The woman says
1“I am like a rose on the coast of Sharon.
I’m like a lily in the valleys.”
The king says
2“My love, among the young women
you are like a lily among thorns.”
The woman says
3“My love, among the young men
you are like an apple tree among the trees of the forest.
I’m happy to sit in your shade.
Your fruit tastes so sweet to me.
4Lead me to the dinner hall.
Let your banner of love be lifted high above me.
5Give me some raisins to make me strong.
Give me some apples to make me feel like new again.
Our love has made me weak.
6Your left arm is under my head.
Your right arm is around me.
7Women of Jerusalem, make me a promise.
Let the antelopes and the does serve as witnesses.
Don’t stir up love.
Don’t wake it up until it’s ready.
8“Listen! I hear my love!
Look! Here he comes!
He’s leaping across the mountains.
He’s coming over the hills.
9The one who loves me is like an antelope or a young deer.
Look! There he stands behind our wall.
He’s gazing through the window.
He’s peering through the screen.
10He said to me, ‘Rise up, my love.
Come with me, my beautiful one.
11Look! The winter is past.
The rains are over and gone.
12Flowers are appearing on the earth.
The season for singing has come.
The cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13The fig trees are producing their early fruit.
The flowers on the vines are giving off their sweet smell.
Rise up and come, my love.
Come with me, my beautiful one.’ ”
The king says
14“You are like a dove in an opening in the rocks.
You are like a dove in a hiding place on a mountainside.
Show me your face.
Let me hear your voice.
Your voice is so sweet.
Your face is so lovely.
15Catch the foxes for us.
Catch the little foxes.
They destroy our vineyards.
The vineyards are in bloom.”
The woman says
16“My love belongs to me, and I belong to him.
Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies.
17Until the day begins
and the shadows fade away,
turn to me, my love.
Be like an antelope
or like a young deer
on the rocky hills.
SheOr He
1I am a rose2:1 Probably a member of the crocus family of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
He
2Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the young women.
She
3Like an apple2:3 Or possibly apricot; here and elsewhere in Song of Songs tree among the trees of the forest
is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
5Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
6His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
7Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
8Listen! My beloved!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
10My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
11See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
13The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me.”
He
14My dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.
15Catch for us the foxes,
the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
our vineyards that are in bloom.
She
16My beloved is mine and I am his;
he browses among the lilies.
17Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the rugged hills.2:17 Or the hills of Bether
