Song of Solomon 8

¹If 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 mother ^b who taught me. ^c

I would give you spiced wine to drink

from the juice of my pomegranate.

³May his left hand be under my head,

and his right arm embrace me. ^d

⁴Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,

do not stir up or awaken love

until the appropriate time. ^e

Young Women

⁵Who is this ^f coming up from the wilderness,

leaning on the one she loves?

Woman

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

jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.

Love’s flames are fiery flames ^j —

an almighty flame! ^k

⁷A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If a man were to give all his wealth ^l for love, ^m

it would be utterly scorned.

Brothers

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 barricade on her.

If she is a door,

we will enclose her with cedar planks. ^o

Woman

¹⁰I am ^p a wall

and my breasts like towers.

So to him I have become

like one who finds ^q peace. ^r

¹¹Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon. ^s

He leased the vineyard to tenants. ^t

Each was to bring for his fruit

one thousand pieces of silver. ^u

¹²I have my own vineyard. ^v,^w

The one thousand are for you, Solomon,

but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.

Man

¹³You ^x who dwell in the gardens,

companions ^y are listening for your voice;

let me hear you! ^z

Woman

¹⁴Run away with me, ^aa my love,

and be like a gazelle

or a young stag

on the mountains of spices. ^ab