³ Like an apple^[a] tree among the trees of the forest
    is my beloved^(A) among the young men.
I delight^(B) to sit in his shade,
    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.^(C)

¹⁷ Until the day breaks
    and the shadows flee,^(A)
turn, my beloved,^(B)
    and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag^(C)
    on the rugged hills.^[a](D)

² I slept but my heart was awake.
    Listen! My beloved is knocking:
“Open to me, my sister, my darling,
    my dove,^(A) my flawless^(B) one.^(C)
My head is drenched with dew,
    my hair with the dampness of the night.”

⁵ I arose to open for my beloved,
    and my hands dripped with myrrh,^(A)
my fingers with flowing myrrh,
    on the handles of the bolt.
⁶ I opened for my beloved,^(B)
    but my beloved had left; he was gone.^(C)
    My heart sank at his departure.^[a]
I looked^(D) for him but did not find him.
    I called him but he did not answer.

⁸ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you^(A)—
    if you find my beloved,^(B)
what will you tell him?
    Tell him I am faint with love.^(C)