• 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 you Into 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.

  • (To the Daughters of Jerusalem)

  • 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 love Until it pleases.

  • A Relative

  • 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.

  • The Shulamite to Her Beloved

  • 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 love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.

  • The Shulamite’s Brothers

  • 8 We have a little sister, And she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister In the day when she is spoken for?
  • 9 If she is a wall, We will build upon her A battlement of silver; And if she is a door, We will enclose her With boards of cedar.

  • The Shulamite

  • 10 I am a wall, And my breasts like towers; Then I became in his eyes As one who found peace.
  • 11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon; He leased the vineyard to keepers; Everyone was to bring for its fruit A thousand silver coins.

  • (To Solomon)

  • 12 My own vineyard is before me. You, O Solomon, may have a thousand, And those who tend its fruit two hundred.

  • The Beloved

  • 13 You who dwell in the gardens, The companions listen for your voice— Let me hear it!

  • The Shulamite

  • 14 Make haste, my beloved, And be like a gazelle Or a young stag On the mountains of spices.