8 “If only you were like my brother,
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then if I found you outside, I would kiss you,
And no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you;
I would bring you into the house of my mother,
She who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
The fresh juice of pomegranates.
3 His left hand would be under my head,
And his right hand would embrace me.
4 I put you under oath, O daughters of Yerushalom:
Do not try to awaken or arouse love in me until it feels inclined.”
5 “Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning upon her dear one?”
“Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you.
There she who gave birth to you was in labor.
6 Place me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm,
For love is as strong as death is,
And exclusive devotion is as unyielding as the Grave.
Its flames are a blazing fire, the flame of Yah.
7 Surging waters cannot extinguish love,
Nor can rivers wash it away.
If a man would offer all the wealth of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.”
8 “We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister
On the day when she is spoken for?”
9 “If she is a wall,
We will build upon her a battlement of silver,
But if she is a door,
We will board her up with a cedar plank.”
10 “I am a wall,
And my breasts are like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
As one who finds peace.
11 Solʹo·mon had a vineyard in Baʹal-haʹmon.
He entrusted the vineyard to caretakers.
Each one would bring in a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.
12 I have my own vineyard at my disposal.
The thousand pieces of silver belong to you, O Solʹo·mon,
And two hundred to those who care for its fruit.”
13 “O you who are dwelling in the gardens,
The companions listen for your voice.
Let me hear it.”
14 “Hurry, my dear one,
And be swift like a gazelle
Or a young stag
Upon the mountains of spices.”