Song of Solomon 6:10-8:14

English Standard Version

¹⁰^(A)“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
^(B)awesome as an army with banners?”

She

¹¹I went down to the nut orchard
    to look at ^(C)the blossoms of the valley,
^(D)to see whether the vines had budded,
    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
¹²^(E)Before I was aware, my desire set me
    among ^(F)the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.^[a]

Others

¹³^[b] Return, return, O ^(G)Shulammite,
return, return, that we may look upon you.

He

Why should you look upon ^(H)the Shulammite,
as upon ^(I)a dance before ^(J)two armies?^[c]

7 How beautiful are your feet in sandals,
    O ^(K)noble daughter!
Your rounded thighs are like ^(L)jewels,
    the work of ^(M)a master hand.
²Your navel is a rounded bowl
    that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
    encircled with ^(N)lilies.
³^(O)Your two breasts are like two fawns,
    twins of a gazelle.
⁴Your ^(P)neck is like an ivory tower.
Your ^(Q)eyes are pools in ^(R)Heshbon,
    by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like a tower of ^(S)Lebanon,
    which looks toward ^(T)Damascus.
⁵Your head crowns you like ^(U)Carmel,
    and your ^(V)flowing locks are like purple;
    a king is held captive in the tresses.

⁶^(W)How beautiful and ^(X)pleasant you are,
    O loved one, with all your delights!^[d]
⁷Your stature is like a palm tree,
    and your breasts are like its clusters.
⁸I say I will climb the palm tree
    and lay hold of its fruit.
Oh may your breasts be like ^(Y)clusters of the vine,
    and the scent of your breath like apples,
⁹and your ^(Z)mouth^[e] like the best wine.

She

It goes down smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over lips and teeth.^[f]

¹⁰^(AA)I am my beloved's,
^(AB)and his desire is for me.

The Bride Gives Her Love

¹¹^(AC)Come, my beloved,
    let us go out into the fields
    and lodge in the villages;^[g]
¹²let us go out early to the vineyards
    ^(AD)and see whether the vines have budded,
whether ^(AE)the grape blossoms have opened
    and the pomegranates are in bloom.
There I will give you my love.
¹³^(AF)The mandrakes give forth fragrance,
    and beside our doors are all choice fruits,
^(AG)new as well as old,
    which I have laid up for you, O my beloved.

Longing for Her Beloved

8 Oh that you were like a brother to me
    who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
    and none would despise me.
²I would lead you and ^(AH)bring you
    into the house of my mother—
    she who used to teach me.
I would give you ^(AI)spiced wine to drink,
    the juice of my pomegranate.
³^(AJ)His left hand is under my head,
    and his right hand embraces me!
⁴I ^(AK)adjure you, O ^(AL)daughters of Jerusalem,
    ^(AM)that you not stir up or awaken love
    until it pleases.

⁵^(AN)Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?

Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart,
    as ^(AO)a seal upon your arm,
for ^(AP)love is strong as death,
    ^(AQ)jealousy^[h] is fierce as the grave.^[i]
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
    the very ^(AR)flame of the Lord.
⁷Many waters cannot quench love,
    neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
    all the wealth of his ^(AS)house,
    he^[j] would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

⁸We have a little sister,
    and she ^(AT)has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
    on the day when she is spoken for?
⁹If she is a wall,
    we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
    we will enclose her with ^(AU)boards of cedar.

She

¹⁰^(AV)I was a wall,
and my ^(AW)breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds^[k] peace.

¹¹Solomon had ^(AX)a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
    he ^(AY)let out the vineyard to ^(AZ)keepers;
    each one was to bring for its fruit ^(BA)a thousand pieces of silver.
¹²My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
    you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
    and ^(BB)the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

¹³^(BC)O you who dwell in the gardens,
with ^(BD)companions listening for your voice;
^(BE)let me hear it.

She

¹⁴^(BF)Make haste, my beloved,
and be ^(BG)like a gazelle
or a young stag
on ^(BH)the mountains of spices.

Footnotes

Song of Solomon 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib
Song of Solomon 6:13 Ch 7:1 in Hebrew
Song of Solomon 6:13 Or dance of Mahanaim
Song of Solomon 7:6 Or among delights
Song of Solomon 7:9 Hebrew palate
Song of Solomon 7:9 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew causing the lips of sleepers to speak, or gliding over the lips of those who sleep
Song of Solomon 7:11 Or among the henna plants
Song of Solomon 8:6 Or ardor
Song of Solomon 8:6 Hebrew as Sheol
Song of Solomon 8:7 Or it
Song of Solomon 8:10 Or brings out