Read Song of Solomon 8

Song of Solomon8

Longing for Her Beloved

¹O that you were to me like a brotherwho nursed at my mother’s breasts!If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you,and no one would despise me.²I would lead you and bring youto the house of my mother who taught me.I would give you spiced wine to drink,the nectar of my pomegranates.

³His left hand is under my head,and his right arm embraces me.⁴O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you:Do not arouse or awaken loveuntil the time is right.

The Friends

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness,leaning on her beloved?The Bride
I roused you under the apple tree;there your mother conceived you;there she travailed and brought you forth.

⁶Set me as a seal over your heart,as a seal upon your arm.For love is as strong as death,its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol.Its sparks are fiery flames,the fiercest blaze of all.⁷Mighty waters cannot quench love;rivers cannot sweep it away.If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,his offer would be utterly scorned.

The Friends

⁸We have a little sister,and her breasts are not yet grown.What shall we do for our sisteron the day she is spoken for?⁹If she is a wall,we will build a tower of silver upon her.If she is a door,we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

The Bride

¹⁰I am a wall,and my breasts are like towers.So I have become in his eyeslike one who brings peace.¹¹Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon.He leased it to the tenants.For its fruit, each was to bringa thousand shekels of silver.¹²But my own vineyard is mine to give;the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon,and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.

The Bridegroom

¹³You who dwell in the gardens,my companions are listening for your voice.Let me hear it!

The Bride

¹⁴Come away, my beloved,and be like a gazelleor a young stagon the mountains of spices.