The Lover to His Beloved: O my dove, ¹  in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places of the mountain crags, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

The Lover to His Beloved: Oh, ²  you are beautiful, my darling! ³  Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. ⁴  Your hair is like a flock of female goats descending ⁵  from Mount Gilead.

But she is unique! ¹  My dove, my perfect one! She is the special daughter ²  of her mother, she is the favorite ³  of the one who bore her. The maidens ⁴  saw her and complimented her; ⁵  the queens and concubines praised her:

Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp, I coo ¹  like a dove; my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. ²  O sovereign master, ³  I am oppressed; help me! ⁴ 

The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered ¹  the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah ²  in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, ³  and brought it back into the ark. ⁴ 

“‘If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, ¹  he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, ²  two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ³  to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

“‘If he cannot afford ¹  two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ²  he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed ³  a tenth of an ephah ⁴  of choice wheat flour ⁵  for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.

“‘When ¹  the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a one year old lamb ²  for a burnt offering ³  and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering ⁴  to the entrance of the Meeting Tent, to the priest.

If she cannot afford a sheep, ¹  then she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ²  one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering, and the priest is to make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.’” ³ 

Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ¹  and he is to present himself ²  before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest,

For the music director; according to the yonath-elem-rechovim style; ²  a prayer ³  of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath. ⁴  Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me! ⁵  All day long hostile enemies ⁶  are tormenting me. ⁷ 

The Beloved about Her Lover: I was asleep, but my mind ¹  was dreaming. ²  Listen! ³  My lover ⁴  is knocking ⁵  at the door! ⁶  The Lover to His Beloved: “Open ⁷  for me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one! My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”