2:1 [SHE SAID] I am only a little rose {or} autumn crocus of the plain of Sharon, or a [humble] lily of the valleys [that grows in deep and difficult places]. |
2:2 But Solomon replied, Like the lily among thorns, so are you, my love, among the daughters. |
2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved [shepherd] among the sons [cried the girl]! Under his shadow I delighted to sit, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. |
2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love [for love waved as a protecting and comforting banner over my head when I was near him]. |
2:5 Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am sick with love. |
2:6 [I can feel] his left hand under my head and his right hand embraces me! |
2:7 [He said] I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field [which are free to follow their own instincts] that you not try to stir up or awaken [my] love until it pleases. |
2:8 [Vividly she pictured it] The voice of my beloved [shepherd]! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. |
2:9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind the wall of our house, he looks in through the windows, he glances through the lattice. |
2:10 My beloved speaks and says to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. |
2:11 For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. |
2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing [of birds] has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. |
2:13 The fig tree puts forth {and} ripens her green figs, and the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. |
2:14 [So I went with him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved shepherd said to me] O my dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered {and} secret place of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. |
2:15 [My heart was touched and I fervently sang to him my desire] Take for us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards [of our love], for our vineyards are in blossom. |
2:16 [She said distinctly] My beloved is mine and I am his! He pastures his flocks among the lilies. |
2:17 [Then, longingly addressing her absent shepherd, she cried] Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, return hastily, O my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young hart as you cover the mountains [which separate us]. |