Song 2:8-3:5 | ESV | STEP | The voice of my beloved ! Behold , he comes , leaping over the mountains , bounding over the hills .

8 The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he comes,
leaping ^aover the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
9 My beloved is like ^ba gazelle
or a young stag.
Behold, there he stands
behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
looking through the lattice.
10 My beloved speaks and says to me:
^c“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away,
11 for behold, the winter is past;
^dthe rain is over and gone.
12 ^eThe flowers appear on the earth,
the time of singing ^{▼▼Or pruning} has come,
and the voice of ^gthe turtledove
is heard in our land.
13 ^hThe fig tree ripens its figs,
and ⁱthe vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
^jArise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
14 O my ^kdove, in the ^lclefts of the rock,
in the crannies of the cliff,
let me see your face,
let me ^mhear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is ⁿlovely.
15 Catch ^othe foxes ^{▼▼Or jackals} for us,
the little foxes
that spoil the vineyards,
^qfor our vineyards are in blossom.”
16 ^rMy beloved is mine, and I am his;
he ^sgrazes ^{▼▼Or he pastures his flock} among the lilies.
17 Until ^uthe day breathes
and ^vthe shadows flee,
turn, my beloved, be like ^wa gazelle
or a young stag on cleft mountains. ^{▼▼Or mountains of Bether}

Song of Solomon 3:1-5

The Bride’s Dream

1 On my bed ^yby night
I sought ^zhim whom my soul loves;
^aaI sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in ^abthe streets and in the squares;
I will seek ^achim whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 ^adThe watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found ^aehim whom my soul loves.
I ^afheld him, and would not let him go
until I had ^agbrought him into my mother’s house,
and into the chamber of ^ahher who conceived me.
5 ^aiI adjure you, ^ajO daughters of Jerusalem,
^akby the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.