Song of Solomon 2:2-4:5

English Standard Version

² As a lily among brambles,
    so is ^(A)my love among the young women.

³ As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
    so is my ^(B)beloved among the young men.
With great delight I sat ^(C)in his shadow,
    and his ^(D)fruit was sweet to my taste.
⁴ He ^(E)brought me to the banqueting house,^[a]
    and his ^(F)banner over me was love.
⁵ Sustain me with ^(G)raisins;
    refresh me with apples,
    ^(H)for I am sick with love.
⁶ His ^(I)left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand ^(J)embraces me!
⁷ I ^(K)adjure you,^[b] O ^(L)daughters of Jerusalem,
    by ^(M)the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

⁸ The voice of my beloved!
    Behold, he comes,
leaping ^(N)over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
⁹ My beloved is like ^(O)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:
^(P)“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away,
¹¹ for behold, the winter is past;
    ^(Q)the rain is over and gone.
^12 (R)The flowers appear on the earth,
    the time of singing^[c] has come,
and the voice of ^(S)the turtledove
    is heard in our land.
^13 (T)The fig tree ripens its figs,
    and ^(U)the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
^(V)Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
    and come away.
¹⁴ O my ^(W)dove, in the ^(X)clefts of the rock,
    in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
    let me ^(Y)hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
    and your face is ^(Z)lovely.
¹⁵ Catch ^(AA)the foxes^[d] for us,
    the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
    ^(AB)for our vineyards are in blossom.”

3 On my bed ^(AH)by night
I sought ^(AI)him whom my soul loves;
    ^(AJ)I sought him, but found him not.
² I will rise now and go about the city,
    in ^(AK)the streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^(AL)him whom my soul loves.
    I sought him, but found him not.
^3 (AM)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 ^(AN)him whom my soul loves.
I ^(AO)held him, and would not let him go
    until I had ^(AP)brought him into my mother's house,
    and into the chamber of ^(AQ)her who conceived me.
^5 (AR)I adjure you, ^(AS)O daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(AT)by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

^6 (AU)What is that coming up from the wilderness
    like ^(AV)columns of smoke,
perfumed with ^(AW)myrrh and frankincense,
    with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
⁷ Behold, it is the litter^[g] of Solomon!
Around it are ^(AX)sixty ^(AY)mighty men,
    some of the mighty men of Israel,
⁸ all of them wearing swords
    and expert in war,
each with his ^(AZ)sword at his thigh,
    against ^(BA)terror by night.
⁹ King Solomon made himself a carriage^[h]
    from the wood of Lebanon.
¹⁰ He made its posts of silver,
    its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
    by ^(BB)the daughters of Jerusalem.
¹¹ Go out, O ^(BC)daughters of Zion,
    and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
    on ^(BD)the day of his wedding,
    on the day of the gladness of his heart.

4 Behold, ^(BE)you are beautiful, my love,
    behold, you are beautiful!
^(BF)Your eyes are doves
    ^(BG)behind your veil.
^(BH)Your hair is like a flock of goats
    leaping down ^(BI)the slopes of Gilead.
² Your ^(BJ)teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
    that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
    and not one among them has lost its young.
³ Your lips are like ^(BK)a scarlet thread,
    and your mouth is ^(BL)lovely.
Your ^(BM)cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
    ^(BN)behind your veil.
⁴ Your ^(BO)neck is like the tower of David,
    built in ^(BP)rows of stone;^[i]
on it ^(BQ)hang a thousand shields,
    all of ^(BR)them shields of warriors.
⁵ Your ^(BS)two breasts are like two ^(BT)fawns,
    twins of a gazelle,
    that ^(BU)graze among the lilies.