1
Oh that you were like a brother to me
who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and none would despise me.
2 I would lead you andrch. 3:4 bring you
into the house of my mother—
she who used to teach me.
I would give yous[Prov. 9:2, 5] spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranate.
3 tch. 2:6, 7 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
4 IuSee ch. 2:7 adjure you, OvSee ch. 1:5 daughters of Jerusalem,
w[ch. 2:7] that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
5 xSee ch. 3:6 Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
asyIsa. 49:16; Jer. 22:24; Hag. 2:23 a seal upon your arm,
forz[Rom. 8:35] love is strong as death,
a[Ex. 34:14]; Deut. 4:24 jealousy1Or ardor is fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the veryb[Job 1:16] flame of the Lord.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of hiscProv. 6:35 house,
he1Or it would be utterly despised.
8
We have a little sister,
and shed[Ezek. 16:7] has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a battlement of silver,
but if she is a door,
we will enclose her withe[1 Kgs. 6:15] boards of cedar.
10
f[ch. 4:12, 13] I was a wall,
and myg[ch. 4:5; 7:3] breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds1Or brings out peace.
11 Solomon hadhEccles. 2:4 a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
hei[Matt. 21:33] let out the vineyard tojch. 1:6 keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruitk[Isa. 7:23] a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
andlSee Prov. 27:18 the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
13
m[ch. 5:1] O you who dwell in the gardens,
withnch. 1:7 companions listening for your voice;
och. 2:14 let me hear it.
14
p[Rev. 22:17, 20] Make haste, my beloved,
and beqSee ch. 2:9 like a gazelle
or a young stag
onr[ch. 4:6] the mountains of spices.