The Song of Songs 1:12--2:7

The Beloved about Her Lover:

1:12 While the king was at his banqueting table,

my nard gave forth its fragrance.

1:13 My beloved is like a fragrant pouch of myrrh

spending the night between my breasts.

1:14 My beloved is like a cluster of henna blossoms

in the vineyards of En-Gedi.

Mutual Praise and Admiration

The Lover to His Beloved:

1:15 Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved!

Oh, how beautiful you are!

Your eyes are like doves!

The Beloved to Her Lover:

1:16 Oh, how handsome you are, my lover!

Oh, how delightful you are!

The lush foliage is our canopied bed;

1:17 the cedars are the beams of our bedroom chamber;

the pines are the rafters of our bedroom.

The Lily among the Thorns and the Apple Tree in the Forest

The Beloved to Her Lover:

2:1 I am a meadow flower from Sharon,

a lily from the valleys.

The Lover to His Beloved:

2:2 Like a lily among the thorns,

so is my darling among the maidens.

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my beloved among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

The Banquet Hall for the Love-Sick

The Beloved about Her Lover:

2:4 He brought me into the banquet hall,

and he looked at me lovingly.

2:5 Sustain me with raisin cakes,

refresh me with apples,

for I am faint with love.

The Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration

2:6 His left hand caresses my head,

and his right hand stimulates me.

The Beloved to the Maidens:

2:7 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields:

Do not awaken or arouse love until it pleases!