Song of Solomon 8
The Lovers Speak
1“Oh that you were like a brother to meWho nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you;
No one would despise me, either.
2“I would lead you and abring you
Into the house of my mother, who used to instruct me;
I would give you spiced wine to drink from the juice of my pomegranates.
3“Let bhis left hand be under my head
And his right hand embrace me.”
4 ▼
▼ BRIDEGROOM
,
d“I want you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,▼
▼ Or Why should you arouse
Do not arouse or awaken my loveUntil ▼
▼ Or it
she pleases.”5 ▼
▼ CHORUS
,
h“Who is this coming up from the wildernessLeaning on her beloved?”
▼
▼ BRIDE
“Beneath the ▼▼ Or apricot
,
kapple tree I awakened you;There your mother was in labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave you birth.
6“Put me like a ▼
▼ Or signet
seal over your heart,Like a mseal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
▼
▼ Or Its ardor is as inflexible
,
oJealousy is as severe as Sheol;Its flashes are flashes of fire,
▼
▼ Another reading is A vehement flame
The very flame of the Lord.7“Many waters cannot quench love,
Nor will rivers overflow it;
qIf a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,
It would be utterly despised.”
8 ▼
▼ CHORUS
“We have a little sister,And she shas 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 barricade her with tplanks of cedar.”
10 ▼
▼ BRIDE
“I was a wall, and vmy breasts were like towers;Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.
11“Solomon had a wvineyard at Baal-hamon;
He xentrusted the vineyard to ycaretakers.
Each one was to bring a zthousand shekels of silver for its aafruit.
12“My very own vineyard is ▼
▼ Lit before me
at my disposal;The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”
13 ▼
▼ BRIDEGROOM
“O you who sit in the gardens,My adcompanions are listening for your voice—
aeLet me hear it!”
14 ▼
▼ BRIDE
,
▼▼ Lit Flee
“Hurry, my beloved,And be ahlike a gazelle or a young ▼
▼ Lit of the stags
stagOn the ajmountains of spices.”
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NASB1995