Longing for Her Beloved

¹ O 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.

² I 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.

³ His left hand is under my head,

and his right arm embraces me.

⁴ O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you:

Do not arouse or awaken love^*

until the time is right.

The Friends

⁵ Who is this coming up from the wilderness,

leaning on her beloved?

The Bride

I roused you under the apple tree;

there your mother conceived you;

there she travailed and brought you forth.

⁶ Set me as a seal over your heart,

as a seal upon your arm.

For love^* is as strong^* as death,

its jealousy^* as unrelenting as Sheol.

Its sparks are fiery flames,

the fiercest blaze of all.

⁷ Mighty 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.

The Friends

⁸ We 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?

⁹ If 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.

The Bride

¹⁰ I am a wall,

and my breasts are like towers.

So I have become in his eyes

like one who brings peace.^*

¹¹ Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon.

He leased it to the tenants.

For its fruit, each was to bring

a thousand shekels of silver.

¹² But 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.

The Bridegroom

¹³ You who dwell in the gardens,

my companions are listening for your voice.

Let me hear it!^*

The Bride

¹⁴ Come away,^* my beloved,

and be like a gazelle

or a young stag

on the mountains of spices.^*