1 If only I could treat you like my brother, 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 who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drinkfrom my pomegranate juice.
3 His left hand is under my head,and his right arm embraces me.
4 Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:do not stir up or awaken loveuntil the appropriate time.
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,leaning on the one she loves?I awakened you under the apricot tree. 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. For love is as strong as death; ardent love is as unrelenting as Sheol.Love’s flames are fiery flames —the fiercest of all.
7 Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;rivers cannot sweep it away.If a man were to give all his wealth for love, it would be utterly scorned.