Study

2. Beloved

    He

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

    She

    ³ Like an apple Or possibly apricot; here and elsewhere in Song of Songs tree among the trees of the forest
   is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
   and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
   and let his banner over me be love.
⁵ Strengthen me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples,
   for I am faint with love.
⁶ His left arm is under my head,
   and his right arm embraces me.
⁷ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
   by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
   until it so desires.

    ⁸ Listen! My beloved!
   Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
   bounding over the hills.
⁹ My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
   Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
   peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My beloved spoke and said to me,
   “Arise, my darling,
   my beautiful one, come with me.
¹¹ See! The winter is past;
   the rains are over and gone.
¹² Flowers appear on the earth;
   the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
   is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree forms its early fruit;
   the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
   my beautiful one, come with me.”

    He

    ¹⁴ My dove in the clefts of the rock,
   in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
   let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
   and your face is lovely.
¹⁵ Catch for us the foxes,
   the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
   our vineyards that are in bloom.

    She

    ¹⁶ My beloved is mine and I am his;
   he browses among the lilies.
¹⁷ Until the day breaks
   and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
   and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
   on the rugged hills. Or the hills of Bether