Chapter 8

The Lovers Speak

1 “Oh that you were like a brother to me

Who nursed at my mother’s breasts.

If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;

No one would despise me, either.

2 “I would lead you and abring you

Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;

I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.

3 “Let ahis left hand be under my head

And his right hand embrace me.”

4 “1aI want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,

2Do not arouse or awaken my love

Until 3she pleases.”

5 “1aWho is this coming up from the wilderness

Leaning on her beloved?”

“2Beneath the 3bapple tree I awakened you;

There your mother was in labor with you,

There she was in labor and gave you birth.

6 “Put me like a 1seal over your heart,

Like a aseal on your arm.

For love is as strong as death,

2bJealousy is as severe as Sheol;

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

3The very flame of the Lord.

7 “Many waters cannot quench love,

Nor will rivers overflow it;

aIf a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,

It would be utterly despised.”

8 “1We have a little sister,

And she ahas no breasts;

What shall we do for our sister

On the day when she is spoken for?

9 “If she is a wall,

We will build on her a battlement of silver;

But if she is a door,

We will barricade her with aplanks of cedar.”

10 “1I was a wall, and amy breasts were like towers;

Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.

11 “Solomon had a avineyard at Baal-hamon;

He bentrusted the vineyard to ccaretakers.

Each one was to bring a dthousand shekels of silver for its efruit.

12 “My very own vineyard is 1at my disposal;

The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,

And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”

13 “1O you who sit in the gardens,

My acompanions are listening for your voice—

bLet me hear it!”

14 “1, 2Hurry, my beloved,

And be alike a gazelle or a young 3stag

On the bmountains of spices.”