Down there beyond the river,
I chose your father Abraham,
and from an impotent old man
I multiplied your descendants.
Far be it from us to forsake
our God
who has worked marvels for us
before our very eyes.
A people enslaved
I rescued from Egypt
and with a mighty hand
I opened the Red Sea.
Far be it from us to forsake…
For years in the desert
I fed you with manna
and upon eagles’ wings
I took you beyond the mountains.
Far be it from us to forsake…
I gave you a land,
cities you did not build,
vineyards you did not plant,
springs of living water.
Far be it from us to forsake…

O my people, o my people,
what harm have I done you,
what harm have I done you?
How have I offended you:
give me an answer,
how have I offended you?
I led you out of Egypt,
I led you out of Egypt,
yet you, you prepared the cross for me!
O my people…
I led you for forty years in the desert,
I fed you with manna
and led you to the Promised Land,
yet you, you prepared the cross for me!
O my people…
What could I have done for you
that I haven’t done?
To you I sang:
"My beloved vineyard,"
yet you, you became bitter!
Hagios Theós,
Sanctus Deus.
Hagios Íschyros,
Sanctus Fortis.
Hagios Athánatos,
eleison hemâs.
Sanctus Immortalis,
miserere nobis.
O my people…

Come from Lebanon, my bride,
come from Lebanon, come.
You will have for a crown the mountains,
the high crests of Hermon.
You have ravished, ravished my heart,
O my sister, my bride.
Come from Lebanon, my bride,
come from Lebanon, come!
I have searched for the love of my heart,
I searched but I didn’t find it;
I have found the love of my heart,
I’ve embraced him and I’ll not let him go.
I belong to my beloved,
and his whole desire is for me.
Come let us go out into the fields,
let us lodge in the villages.
Let’s go out at dawn to the vineyards,
let us pick the grapes.
I belong to my beloved,
and his whole desire is for me.
I have searched for the love of my heart…
Get up quickly, get up my beloved,
come away my dove.
Winter time has already passed,
the voice of the turtle dove is heard.
The flowers appear again on the earth,
the rain is over and gone.
Get up quickly, get up my beloved,
come away my dove.
I have searched for the love of my heart…
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
love no flood can drown.
To give for it all the wealth of the house
would be to despise it.
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
I have searched for the love of my heart…

You who dwell in the gardens,
where my companions are listening,
let me hear your voice,
let me hear your voice.
Flee, my beloved,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag,
on the sweet scented mountains.
I am in his eyes
as one who has found peace,
my vineyard is here in front of me,
my vineyard is here in front of me,
Flee, my beloved,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag,
on the sweet scented mountains.
You who dwell in the gardens…
The Church through Baptism has been introduced into the gardens of the Kingdom "where the
companions are listening."
There, as she has been made mother and teacher of all nations because of the experience of
love she has received and because of the suffering, the joys, the failures, the recoveries and – we
could say – because of the history of salvation that the Song of Songs expresses, the Church is
invited by the Bridegroom to let her voice be heard in a final yearning.
The Church answers with an eschatological paschal cry: what she has come to know and
experienced of the Bridegroom makes her desire to flee with him in a final exodus "to the sweet
scented mountains," which is Heaven, forever free.

The voice of my beloved: Behold! Here he comes,
leaping on the mountains, skipping on the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young deer,
my beloved is like a gazelle.
Behold! He stands behind our wall
and looks in at the window, he peers through the lattice.
Now my beloved speaks and says to me:
"Arise, my beloved!
Arise my love, arise and come!"
"Arise, my beloved,
Arise my love, arise and come!"
Look, winter has already passed,
the rains are over, they have gone away,
the flowers have appeared on the earth,
the time for singing has come again
and the voice of the turtle dove has returned,
the fig-tree has blossomed with first fruits
and the grape vine gives off its scent.
"Arise, my beloved…
O my dove in the cleft of the rock,
in the hiding places of the cliffs,
let me hear your voice,
let me hear your voice.
Chase away the foxes, the little foxes
who spoil the vineyard.
For our vineyard is in blossom!
For our vineyard is in blossom!
My beloved is for me,
and I am for him.
Before the breeze blows
and the shadows of death grow longer,
return, return, return!
Return, return, return!