- 1
- ¶ I AM like the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley.
- 2
- Like the lilies among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.
- 3
- ¶ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
- 4
- He brought me to the banqueting house, and assigned as my portion love.
- 5
- Sustain me with delicacies, surround me with apples;
for I am sick for love.
- 6
- His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
- 7
- I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, or by young roes of the field, that you stir not up, nor awake my love until it please.
- 8
- ¶ The voice of my beloved!
behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
- 9
- My beloved is like a gazelle or a young roe;
behold, he stands behind our wall, he looks through the windows, bending himself over the lattice.
- 10
- My beloved spoke and said to me, Rise up, my love, my beautiful 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 pruning has come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land;
- 13
- The fig tree puts forth its green figs, and the vines with tender shoots give fragrance.
Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come away.
- 14
- ¶ O my dove, who nests in the clefts of the rock and in the secret places of the hedge, let me see your countenance, let me hear your voice;
for sweet is your voice, and your countenance is comely.
- 15
- Let us catch the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vines have tender shoots.
- 16
- My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he feeds among the lilies.
- 17
- Until the day cools and the shadows flee away, turn my beloved and be like a gazelle or a young hart upon the fragrant mountains.
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