3 As an apple-tree in a forest, is my Beloved among men.

In His shade I delighted and there I sat,

And his fruit was sweet to My palate.

And his banner of love flies up above.

For I am sick with love.’

6 His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.

7  ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, you must make your vows,

By the gazelles and the hinds of the lea,

That you not rouse,

Nor stir up the love, until He shall so please.’

8  The voice of my Beloved is coming swiftly,

Hopping on mountains, skipping on hills.

9  My beloved is like a gazelle

Or a young deer;

Here he stands, behind our wall,

He gazes through the windows, through the lattice He peers.

10  My Beloved called out, and said to me: ‘Arise, My love, My fair one,

And go forth.

11  For, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

12  The blossoms appeared upon the earth,

It’s the time of the birds’ melody,

The cooing of the dove is heard in our land;

13  Figs sprout forth from the fig-tree,

14  My dove is in clefts of the rocks,

In places hidden from view;

‘Show Me your face,

Your voice let Me hear;

For your voice is sweet,

And your appearance has grace.’

15  ‘Catch the foxes and their cubs that spoil the vines;

Our vineyards are in bloom.’

16  My beloved is mine,

And I am His,

He feeds us among the roses.

17  Before the day wafts away,

And the shadows flee,

Turn, my beloved, and be

Like a gazelle or a young hart

Upon the mountains far apart.