8Ah, I hear my lover coming!

He is leaping over the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

9My lover is like a swift gazelle

or a young stag.

Look, there he is behind the wall,

looking through the window,

peering into the room.

10My lover said to me,

“Rise up, my darling!

Come away with me, my fair one!

11Look, the winter is past,

and the rains are over and gone.

12The flowers are springing up,

the season of singing birds*2:12 Or the season of pruning vines. has come,

and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.

13The fig trees are forming young fruit,

and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.

Rise up, my darling!

Come away with me, my fair one!”

Young Man

14My dove is hiding behind the rocks,

behind an outcrop on the cliff.

Let me see your face;

let me hear your voice.

For your voice is pleasant,

and your face is lovely.

Young Women of Jerusalem

15Catch all the foxes,

those little foxes,

before they ruin the vineyard of love,

for the grapevines are blossoming!

Young Woman

16My lover is mine, and I am his.

He browses among the lilies.

17Before the dawn breezes blow

and the night shadows flee,

return to me, my love, like a gazelle

or a young stag on the rugged mountains.*2:17 Or on the hills of Bether.

Song of Songs 3

Young Woman

1One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover.

I yearned for him, but he did not come.

2So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city,

searching in all its streets and squares.

I will search for the one I love.”

So I searched everywhere but did not find him.

3The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,

and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”

4Then scarcely had I left them

when I found my love!

I caught and held him tightly,

then I brought him to my mother’s house,

into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.

5Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and wild deer,

not to awaken love until the time is right.*3:5 Or not to awaken love until it is ready.