Hoheslied 2 | New International Reader’s Version

1 The woman says, ‘I am like a rose on the coast of Sharon. I’m like a lily in the valleys.’ The king says, 2 ‘My love, among the young women you are like a lily among thorns.’ The woman says, 3 ‘My love, among the young men you are like an apple tree among the trees of the forest. I’m happy to sit in your shade. Your fruit tastes so sweet to me. 4 Lead me to the dinner hall. Let your banner of love be lifted high above me. 5 Give me some raisins to make me strong. Give me some apples to make me feel like new again. Our love has made me weak. 6 Your left arm is under my head. Your right arm is around me. 7 Women of Jerusalem, make me a promise. Let the antelopes and the does serve as witnesses. Don’t stir up love. Don’t wake it up until it’s ready. 8 ‘Listen! I hear my love! Look! Here he comes! He’s leaping across the mountains. He’s coming over the hills. 9 The one who loves me is like an antelope or a young deer. Look! There he stands behind our wall. He’s gazing through the window. He’s peering through the screen. 10 He said to me, “Rise up, my love. Come with me, my beautiful one. 11 Look! The winter is past. The rains are over and gone. 12 Flowers are appearing on the earth. The season for singing has come. The cooing of doves is heard in our land. 13 The fig-trees are producing their early fruit. The flowers on the vines are giving off their sweet smell. Rise up and come, my love. Come with me, my beautiful one.” ’ The king says, 14 ‘You are like a dove in an opening in the rocks. You are like a dove in a hiding place on a mountainside. Show me your face. Let me hear your voice. Your voice is so sweet. Your face is so lovely. 15 Catch the foxes for us. Catch the little foxes. They destroy our vineyards. The vineyards are in bloom.’ The woman says, 16 ‘My love belongs to me, and I belong to him. Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies. 17 Until the day begins and the shadows fade away, turn to me, my love. Be like an antelope or like a young deer on the rocky hills.

English Standard Version

1 I am a rose* of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. 2 He: As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women. 3 She: As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to the banqueting house,* and his banner over me was love. 5 Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. 6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! 7 I adjure you,* O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

8 The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills. 9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice. 10 My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, 11 for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. 12 The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing* has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. 14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. 15 Catch the foxes* for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” 16 My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes* among the lilies. 17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.*

Hoheslied 2 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The Bride Adores Her Beloved