Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I ^(B)take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    ^(C)I have no good apart from you.”

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.”