Song of Solomon 8

1Oh that thou wert as my brother, That sucked the breasts of my mother! WhenI should find thee without, I would kiss thee; Yea, and none would despise me.

1I wish you were like a brother to me, one who nursed at my mother’s breasts! Then, if I met you outside, I could kiss you, and no one would look down on me.

2I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, Who would instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate.

2I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother, who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, made from my own pomegranates.

3His left handshould beunder my head, And his right hand should embrace me.

3His left hand would be under my head, and his right hand would hold me close.

4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please.

4I warn you, daughters of Jerusalem: Do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready.

5Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee: There thy mother was in travail with thee, There was she in travail that brought thee forth.

5Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on the man she loves? Under the apple tree I woke you up; that is where your mother went into labor with you, right there where she gave birth to you.

6Set me as a seal upon thy heart, As a seal upon thine arm: For love is strong as death; Jealousy is cruel as Sheol; The flashes thereof are flashes of fire, A very flame of Jehovah.

6Wear me like a seal over your heart, or like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, and its passion is as deep as the grave. Its sparks are flashes of fire, a flame like the fire of the LORD.

7Many waters cannot quench love, Neither can floods drown it: If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, He would utterly be contemned.

7Floods of water cannot put out love, and rivers cannot wash it away. If a man tried to buy love with all the wealth of his house, he would be completely laughed at.

8We have a little sister, And she hath no breasts: What shall we do for our sister In the day when she shall be spoken for?

8We have a little sister, and her breasts have not grown yet. What should we do for our sister on the day when someone asks to marry her?

9If she be a wall, We will build upon her a turret of silver: And if she be a door, We will inclose her with boards of cedar.

9If she is a wall, we will build silver towers on her. If she is a door, we will protect her with cedar boards.

10I am a wall, and my breasts like the towersthereof Then was I in his eyes as one that found peace.

10I am a wall, and my breasts are like its towers. Because of this, I have found favor in his eyes.

11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.

11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon. He rented out the vineyard to tenant farmers. Each one was supposed to bring one thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.

12My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: Thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.

12My own vineyard is right here before me. You, Solomon, can have your thousand pieces of silver, and those who tend the fruit can have two hundred.

13Thou that dwellest in the gardens, The companions hearken for thy voice: Cause me to hear it.

13You who stay in the gardens, your friends are listening for your voice; let me hear it too!

14Make haste, my beloved, And be thou like to a roe or to a young hart Upon the mountains of spices.

14Hurry back to me, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young deer on the mountains where the spices grow.