Song of Solomon 2:8-17

¶“Listen! My beloved! Behold, he comes, Climbing on the mountains, Leaping and running on the hills! [John 10:27] “My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is gazing through the lattice. ¶“My beloved speaks and says to me, ‘Arise, my love, my fair one, And come away. ‘For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. ‘The flowers appear on the earth once again; The time for singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. ‘The fig tree has budded and ripens her figs, And the vines are in blossom and give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, And come away [to climb the rocky steps of the hillside].’ ” ¶“O my dove, [here] in the clefts in the rock, In the sheltered and secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your face is lovely.” ¶“Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that spoil and ruin the vineyards [of love], While our vineyards are in blossom.” ¶“My beloved is mine and I am his; He pastures his flock among the lilies. [Matt 10:32; Acts 4:12] “Until the cool of the day when the shadows flee away, Return quickly, my beloved, and be like a gazelle Or a young stag on the mountains of Bether [which separate us].”