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² Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.

³ Like an apricot^(F1) tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.⁴ He brought me to the banquet hall,^(F1)(C1)
and he looked on me with love.^(F2)(C2)5 Sustain me with raisins;
refresh me with apricots,^(F1)
for I am lovesick.^(C1)6 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.^(C1)7 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.^(F1)(C1)

Arise,^(C1) my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.
¹¹ For now the winter is past;
the rain has ended and gone away.¹² The blossoms appear in the countryside.
The time of singing^(F1) has come,
and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land.^(C1)13 The fig tree ripens its figs;^(C1)
the blossoming vines give off their fragrance.^(C2)
Arise, my darling.
Come away, my beautiful one.

^15 (F1)Catch the foxes for us^(C1)—
the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom.^(C2)

¹⁶ My love is mine and I am his;^(C1)
he feeds among the lilies.¹⁷ Until the day breaks^(F1)
and the shadows flee,
turn around, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag^(C1) on the divided mountains.^(F2)(C2)