1 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.
2I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my motherb who taught me.c
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from my pomegranate juice.
3His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.d
4Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.e
Y 5Who is thisf coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
W I awakened you under the apricot tree.g
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.h
For love is as strong as death;i
ardent love is as unrelenting as •Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flamesj —
the fiercest of all.k
7Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealthl for love,m
it would be utterly scorned.
B 8Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.n
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
we will build a silver parapet on it.
If she is a door,
we will enclose it with cedar planks.o, p
W 10I amq a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
like one who finds peace.r
11Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.s
He leased the vineyard to tenants.t
Each was to bring for his fruit
1,000 pieces of silver.u
12I have my own vineyard.v, w
The 1,000 are for you, Solomon,
but 200 for those who guard its fruits.
M 13Youx who dwell in the gardens —
companionsy are listening for your voice —
let me hear you!z
W 14Hurry to me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.aa
Footnotes:
a. 8:1 Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
b. 8:2 Sg 3:4
c. 8:2 LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
d. 8:3 Sg 2:6
e. 8:4 Sg 2:7; 3:5
f. 8:5 Sg 3:6; 6:10
g. 8:5 Sg 2:3
h. 8:6 Sg 2:16; 6:3; 7:10
i. 8:6 Rm 8:38-39; 1Co 13:8
j. 8:6 Dt 32:21-22; Pr 6:34; 27:4
k. 8:6 Or the blaze of the Lord
l. 8:7 Lit all the wealth of his house
m. 8:7 Pr 6:35
n. 8:8 Ezk 16:7
o. 8:8-9 Vv. 8-9 may record what the girl’s brothers used to say.
p. 8:9 1Kg 6:15
q. 8:10 Or was
r. 8:10 In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
s. 8:11 Ec 2:4
t. 8:11 Mt 21:33
u. 8:11 Is 7:23
v. 8:12 Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me ; Sg 1:6
w. 8:12 Sg 1:6
x. 8:13 In Hb, the word for You is feminine.
y. 8:13 Sg 1:7
z. 8:13 Sg 2:14
aa. 8:14 Sg 2:17