If only I could treat you like my brother,[a]
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother(A) who taught me.[b]
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from the juice of my pomegranate.
May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(B)
Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.(C)

Young Women

Who is this(D) coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?

Woman

I awakened you under the apricot tree.(E)
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.(F)
For love is as strong as death;(G)
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames(H)
an almighty flame![c]
A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth[d] for love,(I)
it would be utterly scorned.

Brothers

Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.(J)
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.(K)

Woman

10 I am[e] a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So to him I have become
like one who finds[f] peace.[g]

11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.(L)
He leased the vineyard to tenants.(M)
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.(N)
12 I have my own vineyard.[h](O)
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

Man

13 You[i] who dwell in the gardens,
companions(P) are listening for your voice;
let me hear you!(Q)

Woman

14 Run away with me,[j] my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.(R)

Footnotes

  1. 8:1 Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
  2. 8:2 LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
  3. 8:6 Or the blaze of the Lord
  4. 8:7 Lit all the wealth of his house
  5. 8:10 Or was
  6. 8:10 Or brings
  7. 8:10 In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
  8. 8:12 Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; Sg 1:6
  9. 8:13 In Hb, the word for You is feminine.
  10. 8:14 Lit Flee

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