The Song of Solomon 2:1-17
2 “I am but a saffron* of the coastal plain,A lily of the valleys.”+
2 “Like a lily among thornsIs my beloved among the daughters.”
3 “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,So is my dear one among the sons.
I passionately desire to sit in his shade,And his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me into the banquet house,*And his banner over me was love.
5 Refresh me with raisin cakes;+Sustain me with apples,For I am lovesick.
6 His left hand is under my head,And his right hand embraces me.+
7 I put you under oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,By the gazelles+ and the does of the field:
Do not try to awaken or arouse love in me until it feels inclined.+
8 The sound of my dear one!
Look! Here he comes,Climbing the mountains, leaping over the hills.
9 My dear one is like a gazelle, like a young stag.+
There he is, standing behind our wall,Gazing through the windows,Looking through the lattices.
10 My dear one speaks, he says to me:
‘Rise up, my beloved,My beautiful one, come away with me.
11 Look! The winter* has passed.
The rains are over and gone.
12 Blossoms have appeared in the land,+The time of pruning has arrived,+And the song of the turtledove is heard in our land.+
13 The fig tree ripens its early figs;+The vines are in blossom and give off their fragrance.
Rise up, my beloved, and come.
My beautiful one, come away with me.
14 O my dove, in the retreats of the crag,+In the recesses of the cliff,Let me see you and hear your voice,+For your voice is pleasant and your appearance is lovely.’”+
15 “Catch the foxes for us,The little foxes that ruin the vineyards,For our vineyards are in bloom.”
16 “My dear one is mine and I am his.+
He is shepherding+ among the lilies.+
17 Until the day grows breezy* and the shadows flee,Return quickly, O my dear one,Like the gazelle+ or the young stag+ upon the mountains of separation.*
Footnotes
^ Or “crocus.”
^ Lit., “the house of wine.”
^ Or “rainy season.”
^ Lit., “the day breathes.”
^ Or possibly, “the cleft mountains.” Or “the mountains of Bether.”