1Oh, that you were like my brother,
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
If I should find you outside,
I would kiss you;
I would not be despised.
2I would lead you and bring you
Into the house of my mother,
She who used to instruct me.
I would cause you to drink of spiced wine,
Of the juice of my pomegranate.
(To the Daughters of Jerusalem)
3His left hand is under my head,
And his right hand embraces me.
4I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
Do not stir up nor awaken love
Until it pleases.
Love Renewed in Lebanon
A Relative
5Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
Leaning upon her beloved?
I awakened you under the apple tree.
There your mother brought you forth;
There she who bore you brought you forth.
The Shulamite to Her Beloved
6Set me as a seal upon your heart,
As a seal upon your arm;
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as acruel as bthe grave;
Its flames are flames of fire,
cA most vehement flame.
7Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor can the floods drown it.
If a man would give for love
All the wealth of his house,
It would be utterly despised.
The Shulamite’s Brothers
8We have a little sister,
And she has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
In the day when she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
We will build upon her
A battlement of silver;
And if she is a door,
We will enclose her
With boards of cedar.
The Shulamite
10I am a wall,
And my breasts like towers;
Then I became in his eyes
As one who found peace.
11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;
He leased the vineyard to keepers;
Everyone was to bring for its fruit
A thousand silver coins.
(To Solomon)
12My own vineyard is before me.
You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,
And those who tend its fruit two hundred.
The Beloved
13You who dwell in the gardens,
The companions listen for your voice—
Let me hear it!
The Shulamite