1. On my bed in the night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
2. Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my heart loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
3. The sentinels who go about in the city found me. “Have you seen the one whom my heart loves?”
4. Scarcely had I passed by them when I found him whom my heart loves. I held him and I would not let him go until I brought him to the house of my mother, into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
5. I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!