Song of Solomon 8
Good News Translation
8 I wish that you were my brother,
that my mother had nursed you at her breast.
Then, if I met you in the street,
I could kiss you and no one would mind.
2 I would take you to my mother's house,
where you could teach me love.
I would give you spiced wine,
my pomegranate wine to drink.
3 Your left hand is under my head,
and your right hand caresses me.
4 Promise me, women of Jerusalem,
that you will not interrupt our love.
The Sixth Song
The Women
5 Who is this coming from the desert,
arm in arm with her lover?
The Woman
Under the apple tree I woke you,
in the place where you were born.
6 Close your heart to every love but mine;
hold no one in your arms but me.
Love is as powerful as death;
passion is as strong as death itself.
It bursts into flame
and burns like a raging fire.
7 Water cannot put it out;
no flood can drown it.
But if any tried to buy love with their wealth,
contempt is all they would get.
The Woman's Brothers
8 We have a young sister,
and her breasts are still small.
What will we do for her
when a young man comes courting?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build her a silver tower.
But if she is a gate,
we will protect her with panels of cedar.
The Woman
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are its towers.
My lover knows that with him
I find contentment and peace.
The Man
11 Solomon has a vineyard
in a place called Baal Hamon.
There are farmers who rent it from him;
each one pays a thousand silver coins.
12 Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins,
and the farmers to two hundred as their share;
I have a vineyard of my own!
13 Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love;
my companions are waiting to hear you speak.
The Woman
14 Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle,
like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.
Song of Songs 8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 O that you were like a brother to me,
who nursed at my mother’s breast!
If I met you outside, I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you
into my mother’s house
and into the chamber of the one who bore me.[a]
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
from the juice of my pomegranates.(A)
3 O that his left hand were under my head
and that his right hand embraced me!(B)
4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
do not stir up or awaken love
until it is ready!(C)
Homecoming
5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon 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.(D)
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm,
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.(E)
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
all the wealth of one’s house,
it[b] would be utterly scorned.
8 We have a little sister,
and she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister,
on the day when she is spoken for?(F)
9 If she is a wall,
we will build upon her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
10 I was a wall,
and my breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who brings[c] peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
he entrusted the vineyard to keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.(G)
12 My vineyard, my very own, is for myself;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand
and the keepers of the fruit two hundred!
13 O you who dwell in the gardens,
my companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear it.(H)
14 Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
upon the mountains of spices!(I)
Song of Solomon 8
Complete Jewish Bible
8 I wish you were my brother,
who nursed at my mother’s breast;
then, if I met you outdoors, I could kiss you,
and no one would look down on me.
2 I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house,
and she would instruct me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
fresh juice from my pomegranates.
3 His left arm would be under my head
and his right arm around me.
4 I warn you, daughters of Yerushalayim,
not to awaken or stir up love
until it wants to arise!
[Chorus]
5 Who is this, coming up from the desert,
leaning on her darling?
[He]
I awakened you under the apple tree.
It was there that your mother conceived you;
there she who bore you conceived you.
[She]
6 Set me like a seal on your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
passion as cruel as Sh’ol;
its flashes are flashes of fire,
[as fierce as the] flame of Yah.
7 No amount of water can quench love,
torrents cannot drown it.
If someone gave all the wealth in his house for love,
he would gain only utter contempt.
[Chorus]
8 We have a little sister;
her breasts are still unformed.
What are we to do with our sister
when she is asked for in marriage?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a palace of silver;
and if she is a door,
we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
[She]
10 I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers;
so in his view I am like one who brings peace.
11 Shlomo had a vineyard at Ba‘al-Hamon,
and he gave the vineyard to caretakers;
each of them would pay for its fruit
a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard is mine; I tend it, myself.
You can have the thousand, Shlomo,
and the fruit-caretakers, two hundred!
[He]
13 You who live in the garden,
friends are listening for your voice.
Let me hear it! —
[She]
14 — Flee, my darling!
Be like a gazelle or young stag
on the mountains of spices!
Song of Solomon 8
The Message
8 1-2 I wish you’d been my twin brother,
sharing with me the breasts of my mother,
Playing outside in the street,
kissing in plain view of everyone,
and no one thinking anything of it.
I’d take you by the hand and bring you home
where I was raised by my mother.
You’d drink my wine
and kiss my cheeks.
3-4 Imagine! His left hand cradling my head,
his right arm around my waist!
Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem:
Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up,
until the time is ripe—and you’re ready.
The Chorus
5 Who is this I see coming up from the country,
arm in arm with her lover?
The Man
I found you under the apricot tree,
and woke you up to love.
Your mother went into labor under that tree,
and under that very tree she bore you.
The Woman
6-8 Hang my locket around your neck,
wear my ring on your finger.
Love is invincible facing danger and death.
Passion laughs at the terrors of hell.
The fire of love stops at nothing—
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown love,
torrents of rain can’t put it out.
Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold—
it’s not to be found in the marketplace.
My brothers used to worry about me:
8-9 “Our little sister has no breasts.
What shall we do with our little sister
when men come asking for her?
She’s a virgin and vulnerable,
and we’ll protect her.
If they think she’s a wall, we’ll top it with barbed wire.
If they think she’s a door, we’ll barricade it.”
10 Dear brothers, I’m a walled-in virgin still,
but my breasts are full—
And when my lover sees me,
he knows he’ll soon be satisfied.
The Man
11-12 King Solomon may have vast vineyards
in lush, fertile country,
Where he hires others to work the ground.
People pay anything to get in on that bounty.
But my vineyard is all mine,
and I’m keeping it to myself.
You can have your vast vineyards, Solomon,
you and your greedy guests!
13 Oh, lady of the gardens,
my friends are with me listening.
Let me hear your voice!
The Woman
14 Run to me, dear lover.
Come like a gazelle.
Leap like a wild stag
on the spice mountains.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson