1  I am a rose¹ of Sharon,

^ka lily of the valleys.

2  As a lily among brambles,

so is ^lmy love among the young women.

3  As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

so is my ^mbeloved among the young men.

With great delight I sat ⁿin his shadow,

and his ^ofruit was sweet to my taste.

4  He ^pbrought me to the banqueting house,²

and his ^qbanner over me was love.

5  Sustain me with ^rraisins;

refresh me with apples,

^sfor I am sick with love.

6  His ^tleft hand is under my head,

and his right hand ^uembraces me!

7  I ^vadjure you,³ O ^wdaughters of Jerusalem,

by ^xthe gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

8  The voice of my beloved!

Behold, he comes,

leaping ^yover the mountains,

bounding over the hills.

9  My beloved is like ^za gazelle

or a young stag.

Behold, there he stands

behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

looking through the lattice.

10  My beloved speaks and says to me:

^a“Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away,

11  for behold, the winter is past;

^bthe rain is over and gone.

12  ^cThe flowers appear on the earth,

the time of singing⁴ has come,

and the voice of ^dthe turtledove

is heard in our land.

13  ^eThe fig tree ripens its figs,

and ^fthe vines are in blossom;

they give forth fragrance.

^gArise, my love, my beautiful one,

and come away.

14  O my ^hdove, in the ⁱclefts of the rock,

in the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face,

let me ^jhear your voice,

for your voice is sweet,

and your face is ^klovely.

15  Catch ^lthe foxes⁵ for us,

the little foxes

that spoil the vineyards,

^ffor our vineyards are in blossom.”

16  ^mMy beloved is mine, and I am his;

he ⁿgrazes⁶ among the lilies.

17  Until ^othe day breathes

and ^pthe shadows flee,

turn, my beloved, be like ^qa gazelle

or a young stag on cleft mountains.⁷

2  “Thus says the Lord:

^hBehold, waters are rising ⁱout of the north,

^hand shall become an overflowing torrent;

they shall overflow ^jthe land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it.

Men shall cry out,

and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.

3  At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

^lat the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,

the fathers ^mlook not back to their children,

so feeble are their hands,

4  because of the day that is coming to destroy

all ^fthe Philistines,

to cut off from ⁿTyre and Sidon

every helper that remains.

For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,

^othe remnant of the coastland of ^pCaphtor.

5  ^qBaldness has come upon Gaza;

^rAshkelon has perished.

O remnant of their valley,

^show long will you gash yourselves?

6  ^tAh, sword of the Lord!

How long till you are quiet?

Put yourself into your scabbard;

rest and be still!

7  How can it¹ be quiet

^uwhen the Lord has given it a charge?

Against ^vAshkelon and against the seashore

^whe has appointed it.”

“Woe to ^yNebo, for it is laid waste!

^zKiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;

the fortress is put to shame ^aand broken down;

2  the renown of Moab is no more.

In ^bHeshbon they planned disaster against her:

‘Come, let us cut her off ^cfrom being a nation!’

You also, O ^dMadmen, shall be brought to silence;

the sword shall pursue you.

3  “A voice! A cry from ^eHoronaim,

‘Desolation and great destruction!’

4  Moab is destroyed;

her little ones have made a cry.

5  ^eFor at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;²

for ^eat the descent of Horonaim

they have heard the distressed cry³ of destruction.

6  Flee! Save yourselves!

You will be like ^fa juniper in the desert!

7  For, ^gbecause you trusted in your works and your treasures,

you also shall be taken;

and ^hChemosh ⁱshall go into exile

with ^jhis priests and his officials.

8  ^kThe destroyer shall come upon every city,

and no city shall escape;

the valley shall perish,

and ^lthe plain shall be destroyed,

as the Lord has spoken.

9  “Give wings to Moab,

for she would fly away;

her cities shall become a desolation,

with no inhabitant in them.

11  “Moab has been at ease from his youth

and has ^osettled on his dregs;

he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

nor has he gone into exile;

so his taste remains in him,

and his scent is not changed.

14  “How do you say, ‘We are heroes

and mighty men of war’?

15  The destroyer of ^sMoab and his cities has come up,

and the choicest of his young men have ^tgone down to slaughter,

declares ^uthe King, ^uwhose name is the Lord of hosts.

16  The calamity of Moab is near at hand,

and his affliction hastens swiftly.

17  ^vGrieve for him, all you who are around him,

and all who know his name;

say, ^w‘How the mighty scepter is broken,

the glorious staff.’

18  ^x“Come down from your glory,

and sit on the parched ground,

O inhabitant of ^yDibon!

For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;

he has destroyed your strongholds.

19  ^zStand by the way ^zand watch,

O inhabitant of ^aAroer!

Ask him who flees and her who escapes;

say, ‘What has happened?’

20  Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;

^vwail and cry!

Tell it beside ^bthe Arnon,

that ^sMoab is laid waste.

28  ^r“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,

O inhabitants of Moab!

Be ^slike the dove that nests

in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

29  ^tWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

he is very proud—

of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,

and the haughtiness of his heart.

30  I know his insolence, declares the Lord;

^uhis boasts are false,

his deeds are false.

31  ^vTherefore I wail for Moab;

I cry out for all Moab;

for the men of ^wKir-hareseth I mourn.

32  More than for ^xJazer I weep for you,

^yO vine of ^zSibmah!

^aYour branches passed over the sea,

reached to the Sea of ^xJazer;

on your summer fruits and your grapes

the destroyer has fallen.

33  ^bGladness and joy have been taken away

from the fruitful land of Moab;

I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;

no one treads them with shouts of joy;

the shouting is not the shout of joy.

40  For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, ⁿone shall fly swiftly like an eagle

^oand spread his wings against Moab;

41  ^pthe cities shall be taken

and the strongholds seized.

^qThe heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day

like the heart of ^ra woman in her birth pains;

42  Moab shall be ^sdestroyed and be no longer a people,

because ^the magnified himself against the Lord.

43  ^uTerror, pit, and snare

are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!

declares the Lord.

44  He who flees from the terror

shall fall into the pit,

and he who climbs out of the pit

shall be caught in the snare.

^vFor I will bring these things upon Moab,

the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.

45  “In the shadow of Heshbon

fugitives stop without strength,

for fire came out from Heshbon,

flame from the house of Sihon;

it has destroyed ^wthe forehead of Moab,

the crown of ^wthe sons of tumult.

46  ^xWoe to you, O Moab!

The people of ^yChemosh are undone,

for your sons have been taken captive,

and your daughters into captivity.

47  ^zYet I will restore the fortunes of Moab

in the latter days, declares the Lord.”

Thus far is the judgment on Moab.