Song of Solomon 2:1–3:11

2 I am the rose of Sharon,

And the lily of the valleys.

The Beloved

2 Like a lily among thorns,

So is my love among the daughters.

The Shulamite

3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods,

So is my beloved among the sons.

I sat down in his shade with great delight,

And ahis fruit was sweet to my taste.

The Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem

4 He brought me to the 1banqueting house,

And his banner over me was love.

5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins,

Refresh me with apples,

For I am lovesick.

6 bHis left hand is under my head,

And his right hand embraces me.

7 cI 2charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the gazelles or by the does of the field,

Do not stir up nor awaken love

Until it pleases.

The Beloved’s Request

The Shulamite

8 The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes

Leaping upon the mountains,

Skipping upon the hills.

9 dMy beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Behold, he stands behind our wall;

He is looking through the windows,

Gazing through the lattice.

10 My beloved spoke, and said to me:

“Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away.

11 For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

12 The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of singing has come,

And the voice of the turtledove

Is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs,

And the vines with the tender grapes

Give a good smell.

Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away!

14 “O my edove, in the clefts of the rock,

In the secret places of the cliff,

Let me see your 3face,

fLet me hear your voice;

For your voice is sweet,

And your face is lovely.”

Her Brothers

15 Catch us gthe foxes,

The little foxes that spoil the vines,

For our vines have tender grapes.

The Shulamite

16 hMy beloved is mine, and I am his.

He feeds his flock among the lilies.

(To Her Beloved)

17 iUntil the day breaks

And the shadows flee away,

Turn, my beloved,

And be jlike a gazelle

Or a young stag

Upon the mountains of 4Bether.

A Troubled Night

The Shulamite

3 By anight on my bed I sought the one I love;

I sought him, but I did not find him.

2 “I will rise now,” I said,

“And go about the city;

In the streets and in the squares

I will seek the one I love.”

I sought him, but I did not find him.

3 bThe watchmen who go about the city found me;

I said,

“Have you seen the one I love?”

4 Scarcely had I passed by them,

When I found the one I love.

I held him and would not let him go,

Until I had brought him to the chouse of my mother,

And into the 1chamber of her who conceived me.

5 dI 2charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

By the gazelles or by the does of the field,

Do not stir up nor awaken love

Until it pleases.

The Coming of Solomon

The Shulamite

6 eWho is this coming out of the wilderness

Like pillars of smoke,

Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,

With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?

7 Behold, it is Solomon’s couch,

With sixty valiant men around it,

Of the valiant of Israel.

8 They all hold swords,

Being expert in war.

Every man has his sword on his thigh

Because of fear in the night.

9 Of the wood of Lebanon

Solomon the King

Made himself a 3palanquin:

10 He made its pillars of silver,

Its support of gold,

Its seat of purple,

Its interior paved with love

By the daughters of Jerusalem.

11 Go forth, O daughters of Zion,

And see King Solomon with the crown

With which his mother crowned him

On the day of his wedding,

The day of the gladness of his heart.