9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

Look! There he stands behind our wall, peeking through the window, looking through the lattice.

10 My beloved said to me, "Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me.

11 Look! The winter is past.

The rain is over and gone.

12 Blossoms appear in the land.

The time of the songbird has arrived.

The cooing of the mourning dove is heard in our land.

13 The green figs ripen.

The grapevines bloom and give off a fragrance.

Get up, my true love, my beautiful one, and come with me.

14 My dove, in the hiding places of the rocky crevices, in the secret places of the cliffs, let me see your figure and hear your voice.

Your voice is sweet, and your figure is lovely."

15 Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that ruin vineyards.

Our vineyards are blooming.

16 My beloved is mine, and I am his.

He is the one who grazes his flock among the lilies.

17 When the day brings a cooling breeze and the shadows flee, turn around, my beloved.

Run like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains that separate us!

The Young Woman Dreams about Searching for Her Beloved [Bride]

3 1 Night after night on my bed I looked for the one I love.

I looked for him but did not find him.

2 I will get up now and roam around the city, in the streets, and in the squares.

I will look for the one I love.

I looked for him but did not find him.

3 The watchmen making their rounds in the city found me.

I asked, "Have you seen the one I love?"

4 I had just left them when I found the one I love.

I held on to him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, into the bedroom of the one who conceived me.

5 Young women of Jerusalem, swear to me by the gazelles or by the does in the field, that you will not awaken love or arouse love before its proper time.

A Description of the Royal Procession [The chorus of young women]

6 Who is this young woman coming up from the wilderness like clouds of smoke?

She is perfumed with myrrh and incense made from the merchants' scented powders.

7 Look! Solomon's sedan chair!a Sixty soldiers from the army of Israel surround it.

8 All of them are skilled in using swords, experienced in combat.

Each one has his sword at his side and guards against the terrors of the night.

9 King Solomon had a carriage made for himselfb from the wood of Lebanon.

10 He had its posts made out of silver, its top out of gold, its seat out of purple fabric.

Its inside-with inlaid scenes of love- was made by the young women of Jerusalem.

11 Young women of Zion, come out and look at King Solomon!

Look at his crown, the crown his mother placed on him on his wedding day, his day of joyful delight.

Solomon Is Charmed by the Young Woman [Groom]

4 1 Look at you! You are beautiful, my true love.

Look at you! You are so beautiful.

Your eyes behind your veil are like doves.

Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down Mount Gilead.

2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep about to be sheared, sheep that come up from the washing.

All of them bear twins, and not one has lost its young.

3 Your lips are like scarlet thread.

Your mouth is lovely.

Your temples behind your veil are like slices of pomegranate.

4 Your neck is like David's beautifully-designedc tower.

A thousand round shields belonging to soldiers are hung on it.

5 Your breasts are like two fawns, like twin gazelles grazing among the lilies.

6 When the day brings a cool breeze and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of incense.

7 You are beautiful in every way, my true love.

There is no blemish on you.

8 You will come with me from Lebanon, from Lebanon as my bride.

You will travel with me from the peak of Mount Amana, from the mountain peaks in Senir and Hermon, from the lairs of lions, from the mountains of leopards.

9 My bride, my sister, you have charmed me.d You have charmed me with a single glance from your eyes, with a single strand of your necklace.

10 How beautiful are your expressions of love, my bride, my sister!

How much better are your expressions of love than wine and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice.

11 Your lips drip honey, my bride.

Honey and milk are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your clothing is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

12 My bride, my sister is a garden that is locked, a garden that is locked, a spring that is sealed.

13 You are paradise that produces pomegranates and the best fruits, henna flowers and nard, 14 nard and saffron, calamus,a cinnamon, and all kinds of incense,b myrrh, aloes, and all the best spices.

15 You are a spring for gardens, a well of living water flowing from Lebanon.

[Bride]

16 Awake, north wind!

Come, south wind!

Blow on my garden!

Let its spices flow from it.

Let my beloved come to his garden, and let him eat his own precious fruit.

[Groom]

5 1 My bride, my sister, I will come to my garden.

I will gather my myrrh with my spice.

I will eat my honeycomb with my honey.

I will drink my wine with my milk.

Eat, my friends!

Drink and become intoxicated with expressions of love!

The Young Woman Dreams of Marriage with Her Husband [Bride]

2 I sleep, but my mind is awake.

Listen! My beloved is knocking.

[Groom]

Open to me, my true love, my sister, my dove, my perfect one.

My head is wet with dew, my hair with the dewdrops of night.

[Bride]

3 I have taken off my clothes! Why should I put them on again?

I have washed my feet! Why should I get them dirty again?

4 My beloved put his hand through the keyhole.

My heart throbbed for him.

5 I got up to open for my beloved.

My hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers were drenched with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock.

6 I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away. He was gone!

I almost died when he left.

I looked for him, but I did not find him.

I called for him, but he did not answer me.

7 The watchmen making their rounds in the city found me.

They struck me!