Song of Solomon 2:8-3:5
English Standard Version
The Bride Adores Her Beloved
8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping (A)over the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like (B)a gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
(C)“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
(D)the rain is over and gone.
12 (E)The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing[a] has come,
and the voice of (F)the turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 (G)The fig tree ripens its figs,
and (H)the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
(I)Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my (J)dove, in the (K)clefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me (L)hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is (M)lovely.
15 Catch (N)the foxes[b] for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
(O)for our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 (P)My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he (Q)grazes[c] among the lilies.
17 Until (R)the day breathes
and (S)the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like (T)a gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains.[d]
The Bride's Dream
3 On my bed (U)by night
I sought (V)him whom my soul loves;
(W)I sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in (X)the streets and in the squares;
I will seek (Y)him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 (Z)The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found (AA)him whom my soul loves.
I (AB)held him, and would not let him go
until I had (AC)brought him into my mother's house,
and into the chamber of (AD)her who conceived me.
5 (AE)I adjure you, (AF)O daughters of Jerusalem,
(AG)by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 2:12 Or pruning
- Song of Solomon 2:15 Or jackals
- Song of Solomon 2:16 Or he pastures his flock
- Song of Solomon 2:17 Or mountains of Bether
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.