Let us rise early to go to the vineyards, to see if the vines have budded, to see if their blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom – there I will give you my love.

(Now the ¹  flax and the barley were struck ²  by the hail, ³  for the barley had ripened ⁴  and the flax ⁵  was in bud.

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 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.

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.

If anyone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his virgin, ¹  if she is past the bloom of youth ²  and it seems necessary, he should do what he wishes; he does not sin. Let them marry.

The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible. ¹ 

He carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings.

Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall, ¹  and like an olive tree he will shed his blossoms. 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.

Let the desert and dry region be happy; ¹  let the wilderness ²  rejoice and bloom like a lily!

On all the walls around the temple, inside and out, ¹  he carved ²  cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom.

I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily, he will send down his roots like a cedar of ¹  Lebanon.

Let it richly bloom; ¹  let it rejoice and shout with delight! ²  It is given the grandeur ³  of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the grandeur of the Lord, the splendor of our God.

On the two doors made of olive wood he carved ¹  cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold. ²  He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold. ³ 

O sky, rain down from above! Let the clouds send down showers ¹  of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it ²  so salvation may grow, ³  and deliverance may sprout up ⁴  along with it. I, the Lord, create it. ⁵ 

For just as the ground produces its crops and a garden yields its produce, so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance ¹  to grow, and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. ²