1. By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
2. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
3. The watchmen that go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have ye seen him whom my soul loves?
4. It was but a little that I passed from them that I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house and into the chamber of her that brought me into the light.
5. I charge you, O ye virgins of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye not awake nor stir up love, until he pleases.