Longing for Her Beloved 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, 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. 3His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me. 4O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you: Do not arouse or awaken love The Friends 5Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? The Bride I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth. 6Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousya as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, 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. The Friends 8We have a little sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister 9If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar. The Bride 10I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers. So I have become in his eyes 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.b 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. The Bridegroom 13You who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice. Let me hear it! The Bride 14Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices. Footnotes: 6 a Or passion 11 b Hebrew a thousand of silver ; that is, approximately 25.1 pounds or 11.4 kilograms of silver The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain. Free resources and databases are available at BereanBible.com. |