Song of Solomon 2:8–17

⁸“¹Listen! My beloved!

Behold, he is coming,

Climbing ^aon the mountains,

Leaping on the hills!

⁹“My beloved is like a ^agazelle or a ^byoung ¹stag.

Behold, he is standing behind our wall,

He is looking through the windows,

He is peering ^cthrough the lattice.

¹⁰“My beloved responded and said to me,

‘^aArise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along.

¹¹‘For behold, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

¹²‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;

The time has arrived for ¹pruning the vines,

And the voice of the ^aturtledove has been heard in our land.

¹³‘The ^afig tree has ripened its figs,

And the ^bvines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,

And come along!’ ”

¹⁴“¹O ^amy dove, ^bin the clefts of the ²rock,

In the secret place of the steep ³pathway,

Let me see your ⁴form,

^cLet me hear your voice;

For your voice is sweet,

And your form is ^dlovely.”

¹⁵“^1aCatch the foxes for us,

The ²little foxes that are ruining the vineyards,

While our ^bvineyards are in blossom.”

¹⁶“^1aMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

He ^bpastures his flock among the lilies.

¹⁷“^aUntil ¹the cool of the day when the shadows flee away,

Turn, my beloved, and be like a ^bgazelle

Or a young stag ^con the mountains of ²Bether.”