| English Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me. | 1If only you were to me like a brother, who was nursed at my mother's breasts! Then, if I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me. |
| 2I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother— she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate. | 2I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house-- she who has 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 hand embraces me! | 3His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me. |
| 4I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. | 4Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. |
| 5Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor. | 5Who is this coming up from the wilderness leaning on her beloved? She Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth. |
| 6Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. | 6Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. |
| 7Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. | 7Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one's house for love, it would be utterly scorned. |
| 8We have a little sister, and she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for? | 8We have a little sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for? |
| 9If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver, but if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. | 9If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar. |
| 10I was a wall, and my breasts were like towers; then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace. | 10I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment. |
| 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he let out the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. | 11Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out his vineyard to tenants. Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver. |
| 12My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred. | 12But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit. |
| 13O you who dwell in the gardens, with companions listening for your voice; let me hear it. | 13You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice! |
| 14Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. | 14Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden mountains. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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