Song of Solomon 8
1 Who doth make thee as a brother to me, Sucking the breasts of my mother? I find thee without, I kiss thee, Yea, they do not despise me,
How I wish you were like a brother to me, one who nursed at my mother's breasts! Then if I met you on the street I could kiss you and no one would tell me off.
2 I lead thee, I bring thee in unto my mother's house, She doth teach me, I cause thee to drink of the perfumed wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate,
Then I could take you home to my mother's house, where she used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand [is] under my head, And his right doth embrace me.
He supports my head with his left hand, and holds me close with his right.
4 I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, How ye stir up, And how ye wake the love till she please!
Women of Jerusalem, swear to me that you won't disturb our love until the right time.
5 Who [is] this coming from the wilderness, Hasting herself for her beloved? Under the citron-tree I have waked thee, There did thy mother pledge thee, There she gave a pledge [that] bare thee.
Who is this coming in from the wilderness holding her love close to her? Woman: I woke you up under the apple tree where your mother conceived you, and where she gave birth to you.
6 Set me as a seal on thy heart, as a seal on thine arm, For strong as death is love, Sharp as Sheol is jealousy, Its burnings [are] burnings of fire, a flame of Jah! (Sheol h7585)
Stamp my name as a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm, for love is strong as death, passion as unyielding as the grave—its arrows flash like fire, a blazing flame of the Lord. (Sheol h7585)
7 Many waters are not able to quench the love, And floods do not wash it away. If one give all the wealth of his house for love, Treading down — they tread upon it.
Floods of water cannot extinguish love; rivers cannot submerge it. If a man offered everything he owned in order to buy love he would be completely rejected.
8 We have a little sister, and breasts she hath not, What do we do for our sister, In the day that it is told of her?
We have a younger sister whose breasts are still small. What shall we do for our sister when someone asks to marry her?
9 If she is a wall, we build by her a palace of silver. And if she is a door, We fashion by her board-work of cedar.
If she is a wall, we will build a silver tower on it. But if she is a door, we will bar the way with cedar planks.
10 I [am] a wall, and my breasts as towers, Then I have been in his eyes as one finding peace.
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So when he looks at me he's happy!
11 Solomon hath a vineyard in Baal-Hamon, He hath given the vineyard to keepers, Each bringeth for its fruit a thousand silverlings;
Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon which he leased to tenant farmers. Each of them paid him one thousand silver coins for the fruit it produced.
12 My vineyard — my own — is before me, The thousand [is] for thee, O Solomon. And the two hundred for those keeping its fruit. O dweller in gardens!
But I own my vineyard, it is mine alone. One thousand silver coins are for you, Solomon, and two hundred for those who look after it.
13 The companions are attending to thy voice, Cause me to hear. Flee, my beloved, and be like to a roe,
My darling, sitting there in the gardens with companions listening to you—please talk to me!
14 Or to a young one of the harts on mountains of spices!
Come quickly, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of spices.
