Song Of Songs 2

Song Of Songs 2

NIRV — New International Reader's Version Bible (NIRV)
NLT — New Living Translation Bible (NLT)
Verse 1
“I am like a rose on the coast of Sharon.
    I’m like a lily in the valleys.”

The king says

I am the spring crocus blooming on the Sharon Plain,[a]
    the lily of the valley.

Young Man

Verse 2
“My love, among the young women
    you are like a lily among thorns.”

The woman says

Like a lily among thistles
    is my darling among young women.

Young Woman

Verse 3
“My love, among the young men
    you are like an apple tree among the trees of the forest.
I’m happy to sit in your shade.
    Your fruit tastes so sweet to me.
Like the finest apple tree in the orchard
    is my lover among other young men.
I sit in his delightful shade
    and taste his delicious fruit.
Verse 4
Lead me to the dinner hall.
    Let your banner of love be lifted high above me.
He escorts me to the banquet hall;
    it’s obvious how much he loves me.
Verse 5
Give me some raisins to make me strong.
    Give me some apples to make me feel like new again.
    Our love has made me weak.
Strengthen me with raisin cakes,
    refresh me with apples,
    for I am weak with love.
Verse 6
Your left arm is under my head.
    Your right arm is around me.
His left arm is under my head,
    and his right arm embraces me.

Verse 7
Women of Jerusalem, make me a promise.
    Let the antelopes and the does serve as witnesses.
Don’t stir up love.
    Don’t wake it up until it’s ready.

Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
    by the gazelles and wild deer,
    not to awaken love until the time is right.[b]

Verse 8
“Listen! I hear my love!
    Look! Here he comes!
He’s leaping across the mountains.
    He’s coming over the hills.
Ah, I hear my lover coming!
    He is leaping over the mountains,
    bounding over the hills.
Verse 9
The one who loves me is like an antelope or a young deer.
    Look! There he stands behind our wall.
He’s gazing through the window.
    He’s peering through the screen.
My 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.

Verse 10
He said to me, ‘Rise up, my love.
    Come with me, my beautiful one.
My lover said to me,
    “Rise up, my darling!
    Come away with me, my fair one!
Verse 11
Look! The winter is past.
    The rains are over and gone.
Look, the winter is past,
    and the rains are over and gone.
Verse 12
Flowers are appearing on the earth.
    The season for singing has come.
The cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.
The flowers are springing up,
    the season of singing birds[c] has come,
    and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.
Verse 13
The fig trees are producing their early fruit.
    The flowers on the vines are giving off their sweet smell.
Rise up and come, my love.
    Come with me, my beautiful one.’ ”

The king says

The 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

Verse 14
“You are like a dove in an opening in the rocks.
    You are like a dove in a hiding place on a mountainside.
Show me your face.
    Let me hear your voice.
Your voice is so sweet.
    Your face is so lovely.
My 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

Verse 15
Catch the foxes for us.
    Catch the little foxes.
They destroy our vineyards.
    The vineyards are in bloom.”

The woman says

Catch all the foxes,
    those little foxes,
before they ruin the vineyard of love,
    for the grapevines are blossoming!

Young Woman

Verse 16
“My love belongs to me, and I belong to him.
    Like an antelope, he eats among the lilies.
My lover is mine, and I am his.
    He browses among the lilies.
Verse 17
Until the day begins
    and the shadows fade away,
turn to me, my love.
    Be like an antelope
or like a young deer
    on the rocky hills.

Before 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.[d]