I will take you; I will bring you into my mother's house; and into the chamber of her that conceived me; I will give you to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranates. For finding him having come out from the high watchtower, she embraced him. I have charged you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the forces of the field, why do you stir up and why do you awaken love, until he please? Now she has adjured a second time; but doubting, she used to add 'if'; but now, having taught the nature of the stirring up, of the awakening, and of love, she, as it were, presents that, 'adjuring you by these things, I adjured you, that you stir up and awaken.' Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. The bridegroom exhorts her to form every thought and action with his own character; and he says that love, strong as death, does these things; for it bears all things, endures all things; wherefore it is also strong against death, which puts sin to death; that is, since death has prevailed over all, because in Adam all die; and Hades likewise; such, he says, is love and jealousy; which must be zealous for God, being hard against sinners, like that of Elijah and of Phinehas; or the bridegroom says this to her, set me as a seal for the purpose of sealing your thoughts and your actions, and to strive for the truth even unto death; and in Hades the Jews were zealous against Christ, having bribed the soldiers. We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. Because the soul of man is small, and the Church of God, still being prepared on earth, and not yet having thoughts (for this is what the breasts are), she grows in greatness of life and of thoughts; until she should make plain the thoughts and prophetic visions, or should contain the harmony and operation of power; which also say these things with both prophets and spirits of the just. You who dwell in the gardens, the companions give heed to your voice; cause me to hear it; flee, my beloved, and be like a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. The bride saw the bridegroom resting in the gardens, and the companions themselves giving heed to his voice which she heard; and she wants him, seeing keenly and with discernment, to turn away from the things here, with speed and keen-sightedness, being like a roe, and as a fawn to have contempt for the things of the enemy as for snakes and scorpions, and to ascend to those who have risen up like mountains, and breathing every fragrance; concerning whom it is said, His foundations are in the holy mountains; and this is according to the Septuagint and Theodotion, and the fifth edition; Aquila, however, rendered it, 'he who sits in gardens'; but Symmachus, 'she who dwells'; so that the first words are said to the bride 17.288 sitting by her own fruits, and his companions rejoicing to listen to her attentively.

παραλήψομαί σε· εἰσάξω σε εἰς οἶ κον μητρός μου· καὶ εἰς ταμιεῖον τῆς συλλα βούσης με· ποτιῶ σε ἀπὸ οἴνου τοῦ μυρεψικοῦ, ἀπὸ νάματος ῥοῶν μου. Εὑρίσκουσα γὰρ αὐτὸν τῆς ἄνω περιωπῆς ἐκβάντα, περιεπτύξατο αὐτόν. Ὥρκισα ὑμᾶς, θυγατέρες Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσι καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἰσχύσεσι τοῦ ἀγροῦ, τί ἐγείρητε καὶ ἐξεγείρητε τὴν ἀγάπην ἕως ἂν θελήσῃ; Ἤδη δεύτερον ὥρκισεν· ἀλλ' ἀμφιβάλλουσα προετίθει τὸ ἐάν· νῦν δὲ διδάξασα τὸ εἶδος τῆς ἐγέρσεως τῆς ἐξεγέρσεως καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης οἱονεὶ παρίστησιν, ὅτι ὁρκοῦσα ὑμᾶς κατὰ τῶνδε ὥρκισα, τὸ ἐγείρητε καὶ ἐξεγείρητε. Θές με ὡς σφραγίδα ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν σου, ὡς σφρα γίδα ἐπὶ τὸν βραχίονά σου· ὅτι κραταιὰ ὡς θά νατος ἡ ἀγάπη, σκληρὸς ὡς ᾅδης ζῆλος. Προτρέπεται αὐτὴν ὁ νυμφίος πᾶν νόημα καὶ πρᾶξιν μορφῶσαι τῷ ἑαυτοῦ χαρακτῆρι· ποιεῖν δὲ ταῦτά φησιν τὴν ὡς θάνατον κραταιὰν ἀγάπην· πάντα γὰρ στέγει, πάντα ὑπομένει· διὸ καὶ κραταιὰ κατὰ θάνατον νεκροῦντα τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· ἤγουν ἐπειδὴ πάντων ἐκράτησεν ὁ θάνατος, διὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντας ἀποθνήσκειν· καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ὁμοίως· τοιαύτη, φησὶν, ἡ ἀγάπη καὶ ὁ ζῆλος· ὃν δεῖ ζηλοῦν τῷ Θεῷ, σκληρὸς κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων ὑπάρχων, ὡς ὁ τοῦ Ἡλίου καὶ τοῦ Φινεές· ἢ τοῦτο λέγει ὁ νυμφίος πρὸς αὐτὴν, θές με ὡς σφραγίδα πρὸς τὸ σφραγίζειν τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις σου καὶ τὰς πράξεις σου, καὶ ἕως θανάτου ἀγωνίσαι ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας· καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐζήλωσαν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὑποφθείραντες τοὺς στρατιώτας. Ἀδελφὴ ἡμῶν μικρὰ, καὶ μαστοὺς οὐκ ἔχει. Ὅτι μικρὰ ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς ἔτι ἐπισκευαζομένη τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησία, καὶ νοήματα (τοῦτο γὰρ οἱ μαστοὶ) μήπω ἔχουσα, ἐπιδίδωσιν εἰς μέγεθος βίου καὶ νοημάτων· ἐπ' ἂν τρανώσῃ τὰ νοήματα καὶ προφητικὰ θεωρήματα, ἢ τὴν σύμπνοιάν τε καὶ ἐνέργειαν χωρήσῃ δυνάμεως· αἳ καὶ ταῦτά φασι μετά τε προφητῶν καὶ δικαίων πνευμάτων. Ὁ καθήμενος ἐν κήποις, ἑταῖροι προσέχοντες τῆς φωνῆς σου· ἀκούτισόν με· φύγε, ἀδελφιδέ μου, καὶ ὁμοιώθητι τῇ δορκάδι, ἢ τῷ νεβρῷ τῶν ἐλάφων ἐπὶ ὄρη ἀρωμάτων. Εἶδεν ἡ νύμφη τὸν νυμφίον ἀναπαυόμενον ἐν τοῖς κήποις, καὶ τοὺς ἑταίρους αὐτοὺς προσέχοντας αὐτοῦ τῇ φωνῇ ἧς ἤκουσεν αὐτή· καὶ βούλεται αὐτὸν ὀξέως καὶ διορατικῶς ὁρῶντα ἀπὸ τῶν τῇδε πραγμάτων ἐκκλῖναι, τάχει μὲν καὶ ὀξυδερκίᾳ, ὡμοιωμένον δορκάδι, νεβρῷ δὲ τοῖς τῶν πολεμίων ὡς ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καταφρονητικῶς ἔχειν, καὶ ἀνελθεῖν πρὸς τοὺς ἀνεστηκότας ὡς ὄρη, καὶ πάσης πνέοντας εὐωδίας· περὶ ὧν τὸ, οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις· καὶ ταῦτα κατὰ τοὺς Ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ Θεοδοτίωνα, καὶ τὴν πέμπτην ἔκδοσιν· ὁ μέντοι Ἀκύλας, ὁ καθήμενος ἐν κήποις, ἐξέδωκεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, ἡ κατοικοῦσα· ὡς λέγεσθαι τὰ πρῶτα πρὸς τὴν νύμφην 17.288 καθημένην παρὰ τοῖς ἰδίοις καρποῖς, καὶ τοὺς ἑταίρους αὐτοῦ προσεκτικῶς αὐτῆς ἀκροᾶσθαι χαίροντας.