² Like a lily among thorns
    is my darling among women.

³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,
    so is my dearest compared to other men.
I love to sit in its shadow,
    and its fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ He brought me to his banquet hall
    and raised the banner of love over me.
⁵ Restore my strength with raisins
    and refresh me with apples!
    I am weak from passion.
⁶ His left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand caresses me.
⁷ Promise me, women of Jerusalem;
    swear by the swift deer and the gazelles
    that you will not interrupt our love.

⁸ I hear my lover's voice.
He comes running over the mountains,
    racing across the hills to me.
⁹ My lover is like a gazelle,
    like a young stag.
There he stands beside the wall.
He looks in through the window
    and glances through the lattice.
¹⁰ My lover speaks to me.

Come then, my love;
    my darling, come with me.
¹¹ The winter is over; the rains have stopped;
¹²     in the countryside the flowers are in bloom.
This is the time for singing;
    the song of doves is heard in the fields.
¹³ Figs are beginning to ripen;
    the air is fragrant with blossoming vines.
Come then, my love;
    my darling, come with me.
¹⁴ You are like a dove that hides
    in the crevice of a rock.
Let me see your lovely face
    and hear your enchanting voice.

¹⁶ My lover is mine, and I am his.
He feeds his flock among the lilies
¹⁷     until the morning breezes blow
    and the darkness disappears.
Return, my darling, like a gazelle,
    like a stag on the mountains of Bether.^[a]