New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
1
I'm just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools.
2 As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.
2
A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds - that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.
3 As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
3
As an apricot tree stands out in the forest, my lover stands above the young men in town. All I want is to sit in his shade, to taste and savor his delicious love.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his intention toward me was love.
4
He took me home with him for a festive meal, but his eyes feasted on me!
5 Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.
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Oh! Give me something refreshing to eat - and quickly! Apricots, raisins - anything. I'm about to faint with love!
6 O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me!
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His left hand cradles my head, and his right arm encircles my waist!
7 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the wild does: do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready!
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Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the wild deer: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe - and you're ready.
8 The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.
8
Look! Listen! There's my lover! Do you see him coming? Vaulting the mountains, leaping the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall, gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice.
9
My lover is like a gazelle, graceful; like a young stag, virile. Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate, all ears, all eyes - ready!
10 My beloved speaks and says to me: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away;
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My lover has arrived and he's speaking to me! Get up, my dear friend, fair and beautiful lover - come to me!
11 for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
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Look around you: Winter is over; the winter rains are over, gone!
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
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Spring flowers are in blossom all over. The whole world's a choir - and singing! Spring warblers are filling the forest with sweet arpeggios.
13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
13
Lilacs are exuberantly purple and perfumed, and cherry trees fragrant with blossoms. Oh, get up, dear friend, my fair and beautiful lover - come to me!
14 O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
14
Come, my shy and modest dove - leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing.
15 Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards— for our vineyards are in blossom."
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Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, Foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden.
16 My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
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My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden, Delighting in the flowers
17 Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on the cleft mountains.
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until dawn breathes its light and night slips away. Turn to me, dear lover. Come like a gazelle. Leap like a wild stag on delectable mountains!
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.