| 1Oh, how I wish you were my little brother, nursing at my mother's breasts; if I saw you outside, I could kiss you--surely no one would despise me! | 1Oh, how I wish you were my little brother, nursing at my mother's breasts; if I saw you outside, I could kiss you--surely no one would despise me! |
| 2I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house, the one who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates. | 2I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house, the one who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates. |
| 3His left hand caresses my head, and his right hand stimulates me. | 3His left hand caresses my head, and his right hand stimulates me. |
| 4"Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!" | 4"Do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!" |
| 5Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? The Beloved to Her Lover: Under the apple tree I aroused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth. | 5Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? The Beloved to Her Lover: Under the apple tree I aroused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth. |
| 6Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart, like a signet on your arm. For love is as strong as death, passion is as unrelenting as Sheol. Its flames burst forth, it is a blazing flame. | 6Set me like a cylinder seal over your heart, like a signet on your arm. For love is as strong as death, passion is as unrelenting as Sheol. Its flames burst forth, it is a blazing flame. |
| 7Surging waters cannot quench love; floodwaters cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love, the offer would be utterly despised. | 7Surging waters cannot quench love; floodwaters cannot overflow it. If someone were to offer all his possessions to buy love, the offer would be utterly despised. |
| 8We have a little sister, and as yet she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? | 8We have a little sister, and as yet she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? |
| 9If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar. | 9If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver; but if she is a door, we will barricade her with boards of cedar. |
| 10I was a wall, and my breasts were like fortress towers. Then I found favor in his eyes. | 10I was a wall, and my breasts were like fortress towers. Then I found favor in his eyes. |
| 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon; he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit. | 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon; he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit. |
| 12My vineyard, which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone. The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon, and two hundred shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit. | 12My vineyard, which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone. The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon, and two hundred shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit. |
| 13O you who stay in the gardens, my companions are listening attentively for your voice; let me be the one to hear it! | 13O you who stay in the gardens, my companions are listening attentively for your voice; let me be the one to hear it! |
| 14Make haste, my beloved! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. | 14Make haste, my beloved! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. |
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