1 ARST I am like an insignificant flower on the plains, like an insignificant lily growing in the valleys. The man speaking to the woman he loves BSB BSB: I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
2 ARST Among all the other young women, you, my dear one, are like a lily growing among thorns! The woman speaking to herself BSB BSB: Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.
3 ARST Compared to other men, you, the one whom I love, are like an apple tree that produces delicious fruit and grows in the forest among common trees. You are like a tree whose shadow protects me from the sun, and your being close to me is delightful, like eating sweet fruit. BSB BSB: Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 ARST I want you to lead me to the place where we can make love, and it is evident that you love me very much. The woman speaking to the man she loves BSB BSB: He has brought me to the house of wine, and his banner over me is love.
5 ARST Strengthen and refresh me with fruit, because the way you love me makes me feel lovesick. The woman speaking to herself BSB BSB: Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
6 ARST The man whom I love has placed his left arm under my head and he holds me close with his right arm. The woman speaking to the women of Jerusalem BSB BSB: His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.
7 ARST You young women of Jerusalem, I want you to solemnly promise me, while the female gazelles and female deer are listening, that you will not cause people to love romantically until it is the right time. The woman speaking to herself BSB BSB: O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
8 ARST Listen! Look! The man whom I love is coming. It is as though he is leaping over the mountains and skipping over the hills, BSB BSB: Listen! My beloved approaches. Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills.
9 ARST like a gazelle or a young male deer. Look! There he is! He is standing outside the wall of our house, peering in through the window, and looking intently through the wooden strips inside the window frame. BSB BSB: My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
10 ARST The man whom I love spoke to me and said,“My dear one, get up; my beautiful one, come with me! BSB BSB: My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.
11 ARST Look, the cold season has ended; the rain has stopped. BSB BSB: For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
12 ARST The flowers are blooming throughout the country. It is now time to sing; we hear the doves cooing throughout our land. BSB BSB: The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land.
13 ARST There are new figs on the fig trees, and there are blossoms on the grapevines and their fragrance fills the air. My dear one, get up; my beautiful one, come with me! BSB BSB: The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come away, my darling; come away with me, my beautiful one.”
14 ARST You are like a dove that is hiding far from me in an opening in the rocky cliff. Allow me to see your form, and allow me to hear your voice, because your voice sounds sweet, and your form is comely.” The woman speaking to the man she loves BSB BSB: O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.
15 ARST There are harmful things that are like little foxes that ruin vineyards; do not allow these things to ruin our growing relationship. BSB BSB: Catch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.
16 ARST You whom I love, you are mine, and I am yours. You have pleasure when you kiss my lips, as a gazelle does when eating among the lilies. BSB BSB: My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
17 ARST You whom I love, come and be like a gazelle or a young male deer on the mountains in Bether, until the evening breeze blows and the sun sets. BSB BSB: Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.