| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. | 1Oh, I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother’s breasts. Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would criticize me. |
| 2I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. | 2I would bring you to my childhood home, and there you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, my sweet pomegranate wine. |
| 3His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. | 3Your left arm would be under my head, and your right arm would embrace me. |
| 4I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. | 4Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right. Young Women of Jerusalem |
| 5Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. | 5Who is this sweeping in from the desert, leaning on her lover? Young Woman I aroused you under the apple tree, where your mother gave you birth, where in great pain she delivered you. |
| 6Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. | 6Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. |
| 7Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. | 7Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned. The Young Woman’s Brothers |
| 8We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? | 8We have a little sister too young to have breasts. What will we do for our sister if someone asks to marry her? |
| 9If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar. | 9If she is a virgin, like a wall, we will protect her with a silver tower. But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door, we will block her door with a cedar bar. Young Woman |
| 10I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. | 10I was a virgin, like a wall; now my breasts are like towers. When my lover looks at me, he is delighted with what he sees. |
| 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. | 11Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon, which he leases out to tenant farmers. Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver for harvesting its fruit. |
| 12My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. | 12But my vineyard is mine to give, and Solomon need not pay a thousand pieces of silver. But I will give two hundred pieces to those who care for its vines. Young Man |
| 13Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it. | 13O my darling, lingering in the gardens, your companions are fortunate to hear your voice. Let me hear it, too! Young Woman |
| 14Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. | 14Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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