8
1 Oh that you were like my brother,
who nursed from the breasts of my mother!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you;
yes, and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you, bringing you into my mother’s house,
who would instruct me.
I would have you drink spiced wine,
of the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand would be under my head.
His right hand would embrace me.
4 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
that you not stir up, nor awaken love,
until it so desires.
Friend
s
5 Who is this who comes up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I aroused you.
There your mother conceived you.
There she was in labor and bore you.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
for love is strong as death.
Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol+Sheol is the place of the dead. .
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a very flame of Yahweh.+“Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
7 Many waters can’t quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,
he would be utterly scorned.
Friend
s
8 We have a little sister.
She has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
in the day when she is to be spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a turret of silver.
if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
Belove
d
10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers,
then I was in his eyes like one who found peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He leased out the vineyard to keepers.
Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
12 My own vineyard is before me.
The thousand are for you, Solomon;
two hundred for those who tend its fruit.
Love
r
13 You who dwell in the gardens, with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
Belove
d
14 Come away, my beloved!
Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!