Cantique des cantiques 8

If only you were like a brother

¹If only you were like a brother to me, \q who nursed at my mother’s breasts! \q Then if I found you outside, I could kiss you, \q and no one would look down on me. ²I would lead you and bring you into my mother’s house, and she would teach me; \q I would give you spiced wine to drink, \q the juice of my pomegranates.^{a 3}His left arm is under my head, \q and his right arm holds me close. ⁴Swear to me, women of Jerusalem: \q do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready.

Love as strong as death

⁵Who is this coming up from the desert, \q leaning on her beloved? \q Under the apple tree I woke you; \q there your mother was in labor with you; \q there she went into labor and gave you birth.^{b 6}Set me as a seal over your heart, \q like a seal on your arm, \q for love is as strong as death, \q its passion as relentless as Sheol. \q Its flashes are flashes of fire, \q a mighty flame.^{c 7}Mighty waters cannot put out love, \q and rivers cannot wash it away. \q If a man offered all the wealth of his house for love, \q he would be laughed to scorn.

Our little sister

⁸We have a young sister, \q and she has no breasts yet. \q What will we do for our sister \q when the day comes that she is asked for in marriage?^{d 9}If she is a wall, \q we will build towers of silver on her; \q if she is a door, \q we will board her up with planks of cedar.^{e 10}I am a wall, \q and my breasts are like towers; \q so in his eyes I became one who finds peace.^f

Solomon’s vineyard and my own

¹¹Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; \q he leased the vineyard to tenants; \q each was to pay a thousand pieces of silver for its fruit.^{g 12}My own vineyard is mine to give. \q You, Solomon, may have the thousand, \q and those who tend its fruit two hundred. ¹³You who sit in the gardens, \q friends are listening for your voice; let me hear it. ¹⁴Hurry, my beloved, be like a gazelle \q or a young stag upon the mountains of spices.^h