Song of Solomon 2:1-17
2 “A mere saffron*+ of the coastal plain*+ I am, a lily of the low plains.”+
2 “Like a lily among thorny weeds, so is my girl companion among the daughters.”+
3 “Like an apple tree+ among the trees of the forest, so is my dear one among the sons.+ His shade I have passionately desired, and there I have sat down, and his fruit has been sweet to my palate.
4 He brought me into the house of wine,+ and his banner+ over me was love.*+
5 Do YOU people refresh me with cakes of raisins,+ sustain me with apples; for I am lovesick.+
6 His left hand is under my head; and his right hand—it embraces me.+
7 I have put YOU under oath,+ O daughters of Jerusalem, by the female gazelles+ or by the hinds+ of the field, that YOU try not to awaken or arouse love [in me] until it feels inclined.+
8 “The sound of my dear one!+ Look! This one is coming,+ climbing upon the mountains, leaping upon the hills.
9 My dear one is resembling a gazelle+ or the young of the stags. Look! This one is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, glancing through the lattices.+
10 My dear one has answered and said to me, ‘Rise up, you girl companion of mine, my beautiful one,+ and come away.+
11 For, look! the rainy season*+ itself has passed, the downpour itself is over, it has gone its way.
12 Blossoms themselves have appeared in the land,+ the very time of vine trimming+ has arrived, and the voice of the turtledove+ itself has been heard in our land.
13 As for the fig tree,+ it has gained a mature color for its early figs;+ and the vines are abloom, they have given [their] fragrance. Rise up, come, O girl companion of mine,+ my beautiful one, and come away.
14 O my dove+ in the retreats of the crag, in the concealed place of the steep way, show me your form,+ let me hear your voice, for your voice is pleasurable and your form is comely.’”+
15 “Do YOU people grab hold of the foxes+ for us, the little foxes that are making spoil of the vineyards, as our vineyards are abloom.”+
16 “My dear one is mine and I am his.+ He is shepherding+ among the lilies.+
17 Until the day breathes and the shadows have fled, turn around, O my dear one; be like the gazelle+ or like the young of the stags upon the mountains of separation.*
Footnotes
^ “The coastal plain.” Or, “Sharon.” Heb., hash·sha·rohnʹ.
^ Or, “crocus; asphodel.”
^ “Love.” Heb., ʼa·havahʹ.
^ Or, “the winter.”
^ Or, “cleft mountains.” Lit., “mountains of Bether.” The meaning of “Bether” is uncertain.
