11 Behold, the winter is past; the rain has passed, stopped;

12 Flowers appeared on the ground; the time for singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our country;

13 The fig trees have sprouted their buds, and the vines are blossoming and giving forth incense. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful, come forth!

14 My dove is in the gorge of the rock under the shelter of the cliff! show me thy face, let me hear thy voice, for thy voice is sweet, and thy face is pleasant.

15 Catch for us foxes, fox cubs, which spoil the vineyards, and our vineyards are in bloom.

16 My beloved belongs to me, and I to him; he feeds among the lilies.

17 As long as the day breathes coolness, and the shadows flee away, return, be like a chamois or a young deer in the clefts of the mountains.

Chapter 3

1 On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves, I sought him, and did not find him.

2 And I will arise, and will go through the city, through the streets and the squares, and will seek him whom my soul loves; I was looking for him and did not find him.

3 And the guards met me, going round the city, saying, 'Have you not seen him whom my soul loves?'

4 But no sooner had I departed from them, than I found him whom my soul loves, and I took hold of him, and did not let him go, until I brought him into my mother's house, and into the inner chambers of my parent.

5 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, with chamois or deer of the field: do not wake or disturb your beloved, as long as she pleases.

6 Who is this, ascending from the wilderness as columns of smoke, smoking with myrrh and incense, with all kinds of powders of myrrh?