Song of Solomon 8

Modern

Literal

Longing for Her Beloved

¹O that you were to me like a brother

who nursed at my mother’s breasts!

If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you,

and no one would despise me.

¹Who will give you as a brother to me, one having nursed at the breasts of my mother! If I found you outside, I would kiss you; yes, no one would despise me.

²I would lead you and bring you

to the house of my mother who taught me.

I would give you spiced wine to drink,

the nectar of my pomegranates.

²I would lead you, I would bring you into the house of my mother, she who taught me; I would give you to drink from the wine of spice, from the juice of my pomegranate.

³His left hand is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me.

³His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.

⁴O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you:

Do not arouse or awaken love

until the time is right.

⁴I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, why stir up and why awaken love until it pleases.

The Friends

The Bride

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness,

leaning on her beloved?

I roused you under the apple tree;

there your mother conceived you;

there she travailed and brought you forth.

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.

⁶Set me as a seal over your heart,

as a seal upon your arm.

For love is as strong as death,

its jealousy^a as unrelenting as Sheol.

Its sparks are fiery flames,

the fiercest blaze of all.

⁶Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For strong as death is love, cruel as Sheol is jealousy; its flames are flames of fire, a blazing flame.

⁷Mighty waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,

his offer would be utterly scorned.

⁷Many waters are not able to quench love, and the rivers cannot wash it away. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, they would despise it with great despising.

The Friends

⁸We have a little sister,

and her breasts are not yet grown.

What shall we do for our sister

on the day she is spoken for?

⁸A little sister is unto us, and breasts are not unto her. What shall we do for our sister, on the day one should speak for her?

⁹If she is a wall,

we will build a tower of silver upon her.

If she is a door,

we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

⁹If she is a wall, we will build upon her a tower of silver; and if she is a door, we will enclose her with a plank of cedar.

The Bride

¹⁰I am a wall,

and my breasts are like towers.

So I have become in his eyes

like one who brings peace.

¹⁰I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Then I have become in his eyes like one finding peace.

¹¹Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon.

He leased it to the tenants.

For its fruit, each was to bring

a thousand shekels of silver.^a

¹¹There was a vineyard unto Solomon in Baal-hamon. He gave out the vineyard to those keeping it; a man would bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver.

¹²But my own vineyard is mine to give;

the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon,

and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.

¹²My vineyard is—my own—is before me; the thousand is unto you, O Solomon, and two hundred to those keeping watch over its fruit.

The Bridegroom

¹³You who dwell in the gardens,

my companions are listening for your voice.

Let me hear it!

¹³O you dwelling in the gardens, my companions are listening to your voice—let me hear it!

The Bride

¹⁴Come away, my beloved,

and be like a gazelle

or a young stag

on the mountains of spices.

¹⁴Flee, my beloved, and liken yourself to a gazelle, or to a young stag of the deer, on the mountains of spices.