2ND CHAPTER

1  I am a rose of Sharon, 

a lily ⸤growing⸥ in the valleys. 

[GROOM]

2  Like a lily among thorns, 

so is my true love among the young women. 

[BRIDE]

3  Like an apple tree among the trees in the forest, 

so is my beloved among the young men. 

I want to sit in his shadow. 

His fruit tastes sweet to me. 

4  He leads me into a banquet room 

and looks at me with love. 

5  Strengthen me with raisins 

and refresh me with apples 

because I am weak from love. 

6  His left hand is under my head. 

His right hand caresses me. 

7  Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me 

by the gazelles 

or by the does in the field 

that you will not awaken love 

or arouse love before its proper time. 

The Young Woman Remembers One Spring Day with Her Beloved

[BRIDE]

8  I hear my beloved’s voice. 

Look! Here he comes, 

sprinting over the mountains, 

racing over the hills. 

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

Look! There he stands behind our wall, 

peeking through the window, 

looking through the lattice. 

10  My beloved said to me, 

“Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me. 

11  Look! The winter is past. 

The rain is over and gone. 

12  Blossoms appear in the land. 

The time of the songbird has arrived. 

The cooing of the mourning dove is heard in our land. 

13  The green figs ripen. 

The grapevines bloom and give off a fragrance. 

Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me. 

14  My dove, in the hiding places of the rocky crevices, 

in the secret places of the cliffs, 

let me see your figure and hear your voice. 

Your voice is sweet, and your figure is lovely.” 

15  Catch the foxes for us, 

the little foxes that ruin vineyards. 

Our vineyards are blooming. 

16  My beloved is mine, and I am his. 

He is the one who grazes his flock among the lilies. 

17  When the day brings a cooling breeze and the shadows flee, 

turn around, my beloved. 

Run like a gazelle or a young stag 

on the mountains that separate us!