SONG OF SOLOMON
CHAPTER 2

Beloved
^{[1] 1} I am a rose ^[2] of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.

Lover
² Like a lily among thorns
is my darling among the maidens.

Beloved
³ Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest
is my lover among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ He has taken me to the banquet hall,
and his banner over me is 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 lover!
Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
⁹ My lover 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 lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and 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."

Lover
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.

Beloved
¹⁶ My lover is mine and I am his;
he browses among the lilies.
¹⁷ Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn, my lover,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the rugged hills. ^[3]

Footnotes

1. 2:1 Or Lover
2. 2:1 Possibly a member of the crocus family
3. 2:17 Or the hills of Bether

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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