1 Oh, that you were like my brother,Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!If I should find you outside,I would kiss you;I would not be despised.
2 I would lead you and bring youInto the house of my mother,She who used to instruct me.I would cause you to drink of spiced wine,Of the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand is under my head,And his right hand embraces me.
4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,Do not stir up nor awaken loveUntil it pleases.
5 Who is this coming up from the wilderness,Leaning upon her beloved?I awakened you under the apple tree.There your mother brought you forth;There she who bore you brought you forth.
6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,As a seal upon your arm;For love is as strong as death,Jealousy as cruel as the grave;Its flames are flames of fire,A most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,Nor can the floods drown it.If a man would give for loveAll the wealth of his house,It would be utterly despised.
8 We have a little sister,And she has no breasts.What shall we do for our sisterIn the day when she is spoken for?
9 If she is a wall,We will build upon herA battlement of silver;And if she is a door,We will enclose herWith boards of cedar.
10 I am a wall,And my breasts like towers;Then I became in his eyesAs one who found peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon;He leased the vineyard to keepers;Everyone was to bring for its fruitA thousand silver coins.
12 My own vineyard is before me.You, O Solomon, may have a thousand,And those who tend its fruit two hundred.
13 You who dwell in the gardens,The companions listen for your voice—Let me hear it!
14 Make haste, my beloved,And be like a gazelleOr a young stagOn the mountains of spices.