“I am the arose of bSharon,
The clily of the valleys.”
2 “Like a lily among the thorns,
So is amy darling among the daughters.”
3 “Like an aapple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the sons.
In his shade I had great desire and sat down,
And his bfruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He has abrought me to his house of banqueting,
And his bbanner over me is love.
5 Sustain me with araisin cakes,
Refresh me with bapples,
Because cI am lovesick.
6 Let ahis left hand be under my head
And ahis right hand bembrace me.”
7 “I acall you to solemnly swear, O bdaughters of Jerusalem,
By the cgazelles or by the dhinds of the field,
aThat you do not arouse or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
The Bride Delights in Her Beloved
8 “The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he is coming,
Leaping aon the mountains,
Jumping on the hills!
9 My beloved is like a agazelle or a byoung stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall;
He gazes through the windows;
He is peering cthrough the lattice.
10 “My beloved answered and said to me,
‘aArise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over; it is gone.
12 The flowers have appeared in the land;
The time for pruning has arrived;
And the voice of the aturtledove has been heard in our land.
13 The afig tree has ripened its figs,
And the bvines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’”
14 “O amy dove, bin the clefts of the rock,
In the secret place of the steep pathway,
Let me see your appearance,
cLet me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your appearance is dlovely.”
15 “aSeize the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are wreaking destruction on the vineyards,
While our bvineyards are in blossom.”
16 “aMy beloved is mine, and I am his,
He who bshepherds his flock among the lilies.
17 aUntil the day breathes and the shadows flee,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a bgazelle
Or a young stag con the mountains of Bether.”
The Bride’s Troubled Dream
“On my bed night after night I sought him
aWhom my soul loves;
I bsought him but did not find him.
2 ‘I must arise now and go about the city;
In the astreets and in the squares
I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
3 aThe watchmen who go about the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4 aScarcely had I passed them by
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I bseized him and would not let him go
Until I had cbrought him to my mother’s house,
And into the chamber of her who conceived me.”
5 “I acall you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,
By the bgazelles or by the hinds of the field,
That you do not arouse or awaken my love
Until she pleases.”
Solomon Arrives on His Wedding Day
6 “aWho is this coming up from the wilderness
Like bcolumns of smoke,
As rising incense of cmyrrh and dfrankincense,
With all scented powders of the merchant?
7 Behold, it is the traveling couch of Solomon;
Sixty mighty men around it,
Of the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them are those who seize the sword,
aLearned in war;
Each man has his bsword at his side,
Guarding against the cdreadful things of the night.
9 King Solomon has made for himself a sedan chair
From the timber of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
Its back of gold
And its seat of purple fabric,
With its interior inlaid with love
By the adaughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth and see, O adaughters of Zion,
King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the bday of his wedding,
And on the day of his gladness of heart.”