The Beloved to Her Lover: Catch ¹  the foxes ²  for us, the little foxes, ³  that ruin the vineyards ⁴  – for our vineyard is in bloom.

The Lover to His Beloved: ¹  I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, ²  to look for the blossoms of the valley, ³  to see if the vines had budded or if the pomegranates were in bloom.

The day you begin cultivating, you do what you can to make it grow; ¹  the morning you begin planting, you do what you can to make it sprout. Yet the harvest will disappear ²  in the day of disease and incurable pain.

For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, ¹  he will cut off the unproductive shoots ²  with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils. ³ 

He shouts a battle cry ¹  against the sea ²  and makes it dry up; ³  he makes all the rivers ⁴  run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither; ⁵  the blossom of Lebanon withers.

Therefore, as flaming fire ¹  devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. ²  For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands ³  of the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

¹ “You are to make a lampstand ²  of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, ³  its buds, and its blossoms are to be from the same piece. ⁴ 

He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from the same piece. ¹ 

The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture, ¹  and the hills are clothed with joy. ² 

The Beloved to Her Lover: I am a ¹  meadow flower ²  from Sharon, ³  a lily ⁴  from the valleys.

May there be ¹  an abundance ²  of grain in the earth; on the tops ³  of the mountains may it ⁴  sway! ⁵  May its ⁶  fruit trees ⁷  flourish ⁸  like the forests of Lebanon! ⁹  May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth!

While they are still beginning to flower ¹  and not ripe for cutting, ²  they can wither away ³  faster ⁴  than any grass! ⁵ 

He grows up ¹  like a flower and then withers away; ²  he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. ³ 

During his days the godly will flourish; ¹  peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky. ² 

A person’s life is like grass. ¹  Like a flower in the field it flourishes,

When you send your life-giving breath, they are created, and you replenish the surface of the ground.

The Lover to His Beloved: Like ¹  a lily among the thorns, ²  so is my darling among the maidens.

“Look, my servant will succeed! ¹  He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted ²  –

This is how the lampstand was made: ¹  It was beaten work in gold; ²  from its shaft to its flowers it was beaten work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.