¹⁵ How beautiful you are, my darling,
    how beautiful!
    Your eyes are like doves.

¹⁶ You are so handsome, my love,
    pleasing beyond words!
The soft grass is our bed;
¹⁷     fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house,
    and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.

2 I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain,^[a]
    the lily of the valley.

² Like a lily among thistles
    is my darling among young women.

³ Like the finest apple tree in the orchard
    is my lover among other young men.
I sit in his delightful shade
    and taste his delicious fruit.
⁴ He escorts me to the banquet hall;
    it’s obvious how much he loves me.

⁵ Who is this sweeping in from the desert,
    leaning on her lover?

I aroused you under the apple tree,
    where your mother gave you birth,
    where in great pain she delivered you.
⁶ Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy^[a] as enduring as the grave.^[b]
Love flashes like fire,
    the brightest kind of flame.
⁷ Many waters cannot quench love,
    nor can rivers drown it.
If a man tried to buy love
    with all his wealth,
    his offer would be utterly scorned.