² M Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.

³ W Like an apricot^[d] tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ He brought me to the banquet hall,^[e](B)
and he looked on me with love.^[f](C)
5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,^[g]
for I am lovesick.^(D)
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.^[h](E)
7 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.^[i](F)

⁸ Listen! My love is approaching.
Look! Here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,^(G)
bounding over the hills.
⁹ My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.^(H)
Look, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My love calls to me:

M Arise,^(I) my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
¹¹ For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.
¹² The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing^[j] has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.^(J)
13 The fig tree ripens its figs;^(K)
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.^(L)
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.

¹⁴ My dove,^(M) in the clefts of the rock,^(N)
in the crevices of the cliff,
let me see your face,^[k]
let me hear your voice;^(O)
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.^(P)

¹⁵ (W) Catch the foxes for us^(Q)—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.^(R)
16 W My love is mine and I am his;^(S)
he feeds among the lilies.
¹⁷ Before the day breaks^[l]
and the shadows flee,
turn to me, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag^(T) on the divided mountains.^[m](U)