Song of Songs 7:7-8:14

New International Version

⁷Your stature is like that of the palm,
    and your breasts^(A) like clusters of fruit.
⁸I said, “I will climb the palm tree;
    I will take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine,
    the fragrance of your breath like apples,^(B)
⁹    and your mouth like the best wine.

She

May the wine go straight to my beloved,^(C)
    flowing gently over lips and teeth.^[a]
¹⁰I belong to my beloved,
    and his desire^(D) is for me.^(E)
¹¹Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
    let us spend the night in the villages.^[b]
¹²Let us go early to the vineyards^(F)
    to see if the vines have budded,^(G)
if their blossoms^(H) have opened,
    and if the pomegranates^(I) are in bloom^(J)—
    there I will give you my love.
¹³The mandrakes^(K) send out their fragrance,
    and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
    that I have stored up for you, my beloved.^(L)

8 If only you were to me like a brother,
    who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
    I would kiss you,
    and no one would despise me.
²I would lead you
    and bring you to my mother’s house^(M)—
    she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
    the nectar of my pomegranates.
³His left arm is under my head
    and his right arm embraces me.^(N)
⁴Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
    Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.^(O)

Friends

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness^(P)
leaning on her beloved?

She

Under the apple tree I roused you;
    there your mother conceived^(Q) you,
    there she who was in labor gave you birth.
⁶Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love^(R) is as strong as death,
    its jealousy^[c]^(S) unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.^[d]
⁷Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it^[e] would be utterly scorned.^(T)

She

¹⁰I am a wall,
    and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
    like one bringing contentment.
¹¹Solomon had a vineyard^(U) in Baal Hamon;
    he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
    a thousand shekels^[f]^(V) of silver.
¹²But my own vineyard^(W) is mine to give;
    the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
    and two hundred^[g] are for those who tend its fruit.

He

¹³You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!

She

¹⁴Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle^(X)
or like a young stag^(Y)
on the spice-laden mountains.^(Z)

Footnotes

Song of Songs 7:9 Septuagint, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew lips of sleepers
Song of Songs 7:11 Or the henna bushes
Song of Songs 8:6 Or ardor
Song of Songs 8:6 Or fire, / like the very flame of the Lord
Song of Songs 8:7 Or he
Song of Songs 8:11 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms; also in verse 12
Song of Songs 8:12 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms