7. [Addressing her shepherd, she said] Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon. For why should I [as I think of you] be as a veiled one straying beside the flocks of your companions? [Ps. 23:1, 2.]
8. If you do not know [where your lover is], O you fairest among women, run along, follow the tracks of the flock, and [amuse yourself by] pasturing your kids beside the shepherds' tents.
9. O my love [he said as he saw her], you remind me of my [favorite] mare in the chariot spans of Pharaoh.
10. Your cheeks are comely with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
11. We will make for you chains and ornaments of gold, studded with silver.
12. While the king sits at his table [she said], my spikenard [my absent lover] sends forth [his] fragrance [over me].
13. My beloved [shepherd] is to me like a [scent] bag of myrrh that lies in my bosom.
14. My beloved [shepherd] is to me a cluster of henna flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi [famed for its fragrant shrubs].
15. Behold, you are beautiful, my love! Behold, you are beautiful! You have doves' eyes.
16. [She cried] Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved [shepherd], yes, delightful! Our arbor and couch are green and leafy.
17. The beams of our house are cedars, and our rafters and panels are cypresses or pines.