¹ I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

² As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.

³ As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.¹²

1. I sat...: Heb. I delighted and sat down, etc
2. taste: Heb. palate

⁴ He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.¹

1. banqueting...: Heb. house of wine

⁵ Sustain me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick with love.¹

1. comfort...: Heb. straw me with apples

⁶ His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.

⁷ I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not, nor awake my love, till he please.¹

1. I charge...: Heb. I adjure you

⁸ The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

⁹ My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, gazing himself through the lattice.¹

1. shewing...: Heb. flourishing

¹⁰ My beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise, my love, my fair 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 the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land;

¹³ The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¹⁴ O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

¹⁵ Take for us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

¹⁶ My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

¹⁷ Until the day shall break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.¹

1. of Bether: or, of division