The bride

8 Listen, my beloved is coming,

leaping over the mountains,

≈jumping over the hills.

9 My beloved is being like a gazelle or a young stag.

Look, that one is standing behind our wall,

gazing through the windows—

≈looking through the lattices.

10 My beloved answered and said to me,

“Stand up, my darling, my beauty, and come,

11 because, look, the winter is over.

The rain has passed—

≈it went away.

12 Blossoms have appeared across the land.

The time of birds tweeting has arrived,

≈and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

13 The fig tree ripens its green figs,

≈and the grapevines are in blossom.

They give off a scent.

Stand up, my beautiful darling and come.

14 My dove, in the holes in the rocks,

≈in the hiding places of the cliff,

Show me your appearance,

≈make me hear your voice,

because your voice is sweet, and you look lovely.

15 Catch the foxes for us—

the little foxes that destroy the vineyards,

and our vineyards are in blossom.

The bride

16 My beloved belongs to me and I belong to him—

the man grazing among the lilies.

17 Until the daylight arrives and the shadows flee, turn.

My beloved resembles a gazelle or a young stag on the rugged mountains.