8 If only you were my brother,
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts.
If I saw you on the street,
I would kiss you, and no one would look down on me.
² I would lead you.
I would bring you into my mother’s house.
(She is the one who was my teacher.)
I would give you some spiced wine to drink,
some juice squeezed from my pomegranates.
³ His left hand is under my head.
His right hand caresses me.

⁵ Who is this young woman coming from the wilderness
with her arm around her beloved?

Under the apple tree I woke you up.
There your mother went into labor with you.
There she went into labor
and gave birth to you!
⁶ Wear me as a signet ring on your heart,
as a ring on your hand.
Love is as overpowering as death.
Devotion is as unyielding as the grave.
Love’s flames are flames of fire,
flames that come from the Lord.
⁷ Raging water cannot extinguish love,
and rivers will never wash it away.
If a man exchanged all his family’s wealth for love,
people would utterly despise him.

⁸ We have a little sister, and she has no breasts.
What will we do for our sister on the day she becomes engaged?
⁹ If she is a wall, we will build a silver barrier around her.
If she is a door, we will barricade her with cedar boards.

¹⁰ I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers.
So he considers me to be one who has found peace.^[a]
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He entrusted that vineyard to caretakers.
Each one was to bring 25 pounds of silver
in exchange for its fruit.
¹² My own vineyard is in front of me.
That 25 pounds is yours, Solomon,
and 5 pounds go to those who take care of its fruit.

¹³ Young woman living in the gardens,
while your friends are listening to your voice,
let me hear….

¹⁴ Come away quickly, my beloved.
Run like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.