2
The woman speaks
1 I am like [MET] a flower/rose from the Sharon Plain,
and like [MET] a lily that grows in a valley.
The man speaks
2 Among the other young women,
the one whom I love is like [MET] a lily growing among thorns!
The woman speaks
3 And among the other men, you, the man who loves me, are like [MET] an apple/fruit tree that grows in the forest.
You are like a tree whose shadow protects me from the sun,
and your being close to me [EUP] is like [MET] eating sweet fruit.
4 You led me to the ◄banquet room/room where we could make love►,
and it is evident that you love me very much.
5 Refresh me and strengthen me with your lovemaking
like I am refreshed by eating [MET, EUP] raisins and other fruit,
because I very much desire that you love me even more.
6 Put your left arm under my head
and with your right arm hold me close.
7 You young women of Jerusalem,
solemnly promise me, while the does and gazelles are listening, that you will not
disturb us while we are making love
until we are ready to quit.
8 I hear the voice of the man who loves me.
It is as though [MET] he is leaping over the mountains
and skipping over the hills
9 like [SIM] a deer or a gazelle.
Now he is standing outside the wall of our house,
looking in the window,
and peering through the ◄lattice/wooden strips inside the window frame►.
10 He spoke to me and said,
“You whom I love, get up;
my beautiful one, come with me [CHI]!
11 Look, the ◄winter/cold season► is ended;
the rain has stopped;
12 flowers are blooming throughout the country/land.
It is now time to sing;
we hear the doves cooing.
13 There are young/new figs on the fig trees,
and there are blossoms on the grapevines
and their fragrance fills the air.
You whom I love, get up;
my beautiful one, come with me!
14 You are like [MET] a dove that is hiding far from me in an opening/crack in the rocky cliff.
Show me your face,
and allow me to hear your voice,
because your voice is sweet-sounding
and your face is lovely [CHI].”
The woman continues to speak
15 There are other men who are like [MET] little jackals/foxes that ruin vineyards;
do not allow those men to attack me.
16 You who love me, I belong to you and you belong to me,
and you experience pleasure when you kiss my lips
like [MET] a shepherd enjoys taking care of his sheep.
17 You who love me, come and be like [SIM] a gazelle or like a young deer on the hills of Bether,
and then flee like a deer at dawn tomorrow morning,
when the darkness fades.