| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Oh, I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother’s breasts. Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would criticize me. | 1O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me. |
| 2I would bring you to my childhood home, and there you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, my sweet pomegranate wine. | 2I would lead you and bring you to the house of my mother who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates. |
| 3Your left arm would be under my head, and your right arm would embrace me. | 3His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. |
| 4Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right. Young Women of Jerusalem | 4O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right. |
| 5Who is this sweeping in from the desert, leaning on her lover? Young Woman I aroused you under the apple tree, where your mother gave you birth, where in great pain she delivered you. | 5Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth. |
| 6Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. | 6Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all. |
| 7Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned. The Young Woman’s Brothers | 7Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned. |
| 8We have a little sister too young to have breasts. What will we do for our sister if someone asks to marry her? | 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 virgin, like a wall, we will protect her with a silver tower. But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door, we will block her door with a cedar bar. Young Woman | 9If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver to protect her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar. |
| 10I was a virgin, like a wall; now my breasts are like towers. When my lover looks at me, he is delighted with what he sees. | 10I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So I have become in his eyes like one who brings peace. |
| 11Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon, which he leases out to tenant farmers. Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver for harvesting its fruit. | 11Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver. |
| 12But my vineyard is mine to give, and Solomon need not pay a thousand pieces of silver. But I will give two hundred pieces to those who care for its vines. Young Man | 12But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit. |
| 13O my darling, lingering in the gardens, your companions are fortunate to hear your voice. Let me hear it, too! Young Woman | 13You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it! |
| 14Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. | 14Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. |
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