Song of Songs 8
Christian Standard Bible
8 If only I could treat you like my brother,[a]
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.
2 I would lead you, I would take you,
to the house of my mother(A) who taught me.[b]
I would give you spiced wine to drink
from the juice of my pomegranate.
3 May his left hand be under my head,
and his right arm embrace me.(B)
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you,
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.(C)
Young Women
5 Who is this(D) coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on the one she loves?
Woman
I awakened you under the apricot tree.(E)
There your mother conceived you;
there she conceived and gave you birth.
6 Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm.(F)
For love is as strong as death;(G)
jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol.
Love’s flames are fiery flames(H)—
an almighty flame![c]
7 A huge torrent cannot extinguish love;
rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all his wealth[d] for love,(I)
it would be utterly scorned.
Brothers
8 Our sister is young;
she has no breasts.(J)
What will we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build a silver barricade on her.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with cedar planks.(K)
Woman
11 Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.(L)
He leased the vineyard to tenants.(M)
Each was to bring for his fruit
one thousand pieces of silver.(N)
12 I have my own vineyard.[h](O)
The one thousand are for you, Solomon,
but two hundred for those who take care of its fruits.
Man
Woman
Footnotes
- 8:1 Lit Would that you were like a brother to me
- 8:2 LXX adds and into the chamber of the one who bore me
- 8:6 Or the blaze of the Lord
- 8:7 Lit all the wealth of his house
- 8:10 Or was
- 8:10 Or brings
- 8:10 In Hb, the word for peace sounds similar to Solomon and Shulammite.
- 8:12 Lit My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; Sg 1:6
- 8:13 In Hb, the word for You is feminine.
- 8:14 Lit Flee
Song of Solomon 8
King James Version
8 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.
2 I 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.
3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.
4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
8 We 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?
9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
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