The Song of Solomon 2:1-17

  • Young woman (1)

    • “I am but a saffron”

  • Shepherd (2)

    • ‘My beloved is like a lily’

  • Young woman (3-14)

    • ‘Do not arouse love until it feels inclined’ (7)

    • Shepherd quoted (10b-14)

      • “My beautiful one, come away with me” (10b, 13)

  • Young woman’s brothers (15)

    • “Catch the foxes for us”

  • Young woman (16, 17)

    • “My dear one is mine and I am his” (16)

2  “I am but a saffron* of the coastal plain,A lily of the valleys.”+   “Like a lily among thornsIs my beloved among the daughters.”   “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,So is my dear one among the sons. I passionately desire to sit in his shade,And his fruit is sweet to my taste.   He brought me into the banquet house,*And his banner over me was love.   Refresh me with raisin cakes;+Sustain me with apples,For I am lovesick.   His left hand is under my head,And his right hand embraces me.+   I put you under oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,By the gazelles+ and the does of the field: Do not try to awaken or arouse love in me until it feels inclined.+   The sound of my dear one! Look! Here he comes,Climbing the mountains, leaping over the hills.   My dear one is like a gazelle, like a young stag.+ There he is, standing behind our wall,Gazing through the windows,Looking through the lattices. 10  My dear one speaks, he says to me: ‘Rise up, my beloved,My beautiful one, come away with me. 11  Look! The winter* has passed. The rains are over and gone. 12  Blossoms have appeared in the land,+The time of pruning has arrived,+And the song of the turtledove is heard in our land.+ 13  The fig tree ripens its early figs;+The vines are in blossom and give off their fragrance. Rise up, my beloved, and come. My beautiful one, come away with me. 14  O my dove, in the retreats of the crag,+In the recesses of the cliff,Let me see you and hear your voice,+For your voice is pleasant and your appearance is lovely.’”+ 15  “Catch the foxes for us,The little foxes that ruin the vineyards,For our vineyards are in bloom.” 16  “My dear one is mine and I am his.+ He is shepherding+ among the lilies.+ 17  Until the day grows breezy* and the shadows flee,Return quickly, O my dear one,Like the gazelle+ or the young stag+ upon the mountains of separation.*

Footnotes

Or “crocus.”
Lit., “the house of wine.”
Or “rainy season.”
Lit., “the day breathes.”
Or possibly, “the cleft mountains.” Or “the mountains of Bether.”