³ “Like an ^(A)apple tree among the trees of the forest,
So is my beloved among the ^[a]young men.
In his shade I took great delight and sat down,
And his ^(B)fruit was sweet to my ^[b]taste.

⁹ My beloved is like a ^(A)gazelle or a ^(B)young ^[a]stag.
Behold, he is standing behind our wall,
He is looking through the windows,
He is peering ^(C)through the lattice.

^17 (A)Until the cool of the day, when the shadows flee,
Turn, my beloved, and be like a ^(B)gazelle
Or a young stag ^(C)on the mountains of ^[a]Bether.”

² “I was asleep but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking:
‘Open to me, ^(A)my sister, my darling,
^(B)My dove, my perfect one!
For my head is ^[a]drenched with dew,
My ^(C)locks with the dew drops of the night.’

⁵ I arose to open to my beloved;
And my hands ^(A)dripped with myrrh,
And my fingers with drops of myrrh,
On the handles of the bolt.
⁶ I opened to my beloved,
But my beloved had ^(B)turned away and had gone!
My ^[a]heart went out to him as he ^(C)spoke.
I ^(D)searched for him but I did not find him;
I ^(E)called him but he did not answer me.

^8 (A)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For ^(B)I am lovesick.”