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The young woman:

I am a wild flower of Sharon.
I am a lily from the valleys.[a]

The young man:

Among the other young women,
my dear friend is like a lily
that grows among thorn bushes.[b]

The young woman:[c]

Among the other young men,
    my lover is like an apple tree
    that grows among the trees of the forest.[d]
I love to sit in his shade.
    His fruit is sweet when I taste it.
He has taken me to the room for feasts.
    Everyone can see that he loves me.
I am weak with love.
    So give me raisins to make me strong.
    Give me apples to me to keep me awake.

His left hand is under my head.
His right hand brings me near to him.

Promise this to me, young women of Jerusalem:
    Do not cause our love to wake up.
Do not cause it to become too strong
    until the time is right.
The gazelles and the wild deer will know about your promise.

Listen! I hear the voice of my lover!
    Look! He is coming!
He moves quickly across the mountains.
    He runs across the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle or a young male deer.
Look! There he is!
    He is standing behind our wall.
He is looking through the window.
    He wants to see into the room.
10 My lover said this to me:
‘My beautiful friend, I love you.
    Get up now and come with me.
11 Look! The winter time has finished.
    The heavy rains have stopped.
12 Flowers are appearing everywhere.
    It is now the season to sing happy songs.
    We can hear the voices of doves around us.
13 New fruit is growing on the fig trees.
There are flowers on the vines,
    and their sweet smell is in the air.
I love you, my beautiful friend.
    Please get up now and come with me!’

The young man:

14 My dear friend, you are like a dove that is hiding among the rocks.
    You hide from me in the mountains.
Show your face to me
    because it is lovely.
Let me hear your voice
    because it has a sweet sound.

15 Catch the foxes for us!
Our vines now have flowers
    and they will soon give us fruit.
So catch the little foxes before they destroy our vineyards.[e]

The young woman:

16 My lover belongs to me,
    and I belong to him.
He moves among the lilies with his sheep.
17 Turn back to me, my lover.
    Stay until dawn comes and the shadows have gone,
Be like a gazelle or a young male deer
    that plays among the mountains' rocks.

Footnotes

  1. 2:1 Sharon is a place near the sea where there are many pretty wild flowers. The lily is also a pretty flower.
  2. 2:2 The woman says that there is nothing special about her. But the man says that she is very special. She is more beautiful than all the other young women.
  3. 2:3 Now the woman talks to her friends again.
  4. 2:3 An apple tree would have been very special at that time. You would not expect to find one that was growing in a forest of other trees.
  5. 2:15 The foxes may mean anything that spoils the love between the man and woman.