Canticum Canticorum 8
1 Quis mihi det te fratrem meum sugentem ubera matris meae, ut inveniam te foris, et deosculer te, et iam me nemo despiciat?
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 Apprehendam te, et ducam in domum matris meae: ibi me docebis, et dabo tibi poculum ex vino condito, et mustum malorum granatorum meorum.
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 Laeva eius sub capite meo, et dextera illius amplexabitur me.
He supports my head with his left hand, and holds me close with his right.
4 Adiuro vos filiae Ierusalem, ne suscitetis, neque evigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit.
Women of Jerusalem, swear to me that you won't disturb our love until the right time.
5 Quae est ista, quae ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens, innixa super dilectum suum? Sub arbore malo suscitavi te: ibi corrupta est mater tua, ibi violata est genitrix tua.
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 Pone me ut signaculum super cor tuum, ut signaculum super brachium tuum: quia fortis est ut mors dilectio. dura sicut infernus aemulatio, lampades eius lampades ignis atque flammarum. (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 Aquae multae non potuerunt extinguere charitatem, nec flumina obruent illam: si dederit homo omnem substantiam domus suae pro dilectione, quasi nihil despiciet eam.
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 Soror nostra parva, et ubera non habet. quid faciemus sorori nostrae in die quando alloquenda est?
We have a younger sister whose breasts are still small. What shall we do for our sister when someone asks to marry her?
9 Si murus est, aedificemus super eum propugnacula argentea: si ostium est, compingamus illud tabulis cedrinis.
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 Ego murus: et ubera mea sicut turris, ex quo facta sum coram eo quasi pacem reperiens.
I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So when he looks at me he's happy!
11 Vinea fuit pacifico in ea, quae habet populos: tradidit eam custodibus, vir affert pro fructu eius mille argenteos.
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 Vinea mea coram me est. Mille tui pacifici, et ducenti his, qui custodiunt fructus eius.
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 Quae habitas in hortis, amici auscultant: fac me audire vocem tuam.
My darling, sitting there in the gardens with companions listening to you—please talk to me!
14 Fuge dilecte mi, et assimilare capreae, hinnuloque cervorum super montes aromatum.
Come quickly, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains of spices.
