Read the Bible

¹ I am a rose of Sharon, A lily of the valleys.² As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.

³ As the apple-tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.⁴ He brought me to the banqueting-house, And his banner over me was love.⁵ Stay me with raisins, refresh me with apples; For I am sick from love.⁶ His left hand [is] under my head, And his right hand embraces me.⁷ I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That you do not stir up, nor awake [my] love, Until he pleases.

⁸ The voice of my beloved! look, he comes, Leaping on the mountains, Skipping on the hills.⁹ My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: Look, he stands behind our wall; He looks in at the windows; He glances through the lattice.¹⁰ My beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.¹¹ For, look, the winter is past; The rain is over and gone;¹² The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing [of birds] has come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;¹³ The fig-tree ripens her green figs, And the vines are in blossom; They give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

¹⁴ O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the covert of the steep place, Let me see your countenance, Let me hear your voice; For sweet is your voice, and your countenance is comely.¹⁵ Take for us the foxes, the little foxes, That spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom.¹⁶ My beloved is mine, and I am his: He feeds [his flock] among the lilies.¹⁷ Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young hart On the mountains of Bether.