Song Of Songs 8

NIRV — New International Reader's Version Bible (NIRV)

NIVUK — New International Version - UK Bible (NIVUK)

Verse 1

“I wish you were like a brother to me.
    I wish my mother’s breasts had nursed you.
Then if I found you outside,
    I could kiss you.
    No one would look down on me.

If 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.

Verse 2

I’d bring you to my mother’s house.
She taught me everything I know.
I’d give you spiced wine to drink.
It’s the juice of my pomegranates.

I 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.

Verse 3

Your left arm is under my head.
Your right arm is around me.

His left arm is under my head
and his right arm embraces me.

Verse 4

Women of Jerusalem, make me a promise.
Don’t stir up love.
Don’t wake it up until it’s ready.”

The other women say

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.

Friends

Verse 5

“Who is this woman coming up from the desert?
She’s leaning on the one who loves her.”

The woman says to the king

“Under the apple tree I woke you up.
That’s where your mother became pregnant with you.
She went into labor, and you were born there.

Who 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 labour gave you birth.

Verse 6

Hold me close to your heart where your royal seal is worn.
    Keep me as close to yourself as the bracelet on your arm.
My love for you is so strong it won’t let you go.
    Love is as powerful as death.
    Love’s jealousy is as strong as the grave.
Love is like a blazing fire.
    Love burns like a mighty flame.

Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy^[a] unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.^[b]

Verse 7

No amount of water can put it out.
    Rivers can’t sweep it away.
Suppose someone offers
    all their wealth to buy love.
    That won’t even come close to being enough.”

The woman’s brothers say

Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it^[c] would be utterly scorned.

Friends

Verse 8

“We have a little sister.
Her breasts are still small.
What should we do for our sister
when she gets engaged?

We 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?

Verse 9

If she were a wall,
we’d build silver towers on her.
If she were a door,
we’d cover her with cedar boards.”

The woman says to the king

If 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.

She

Verse 10

“I am a wall.
My breasts are like well-built towers.
So in your eyes I’ve become
like someone who makes you happy.

I am a wall,
and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
like one bringing contentment.

Verse 11

Solomon, you had a vineyard in Baal Hamon.
You rented your vineyard to others.
They had to pay 25 pounds
of silver for its fruit.

Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon;
he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
a thousand shekels^[d] of silver.

Verse 12

But I can give my own vineyard to anyone I want to.
So I give my 25 pounds of silver to you, Solomon.
Give 5 pounds to those who take care of its fruit.”

The king says

But my own vineyard is mine to give;
the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
and two hundred^[e] are for those who tend its fruit.

He

Verse 13

“My love, you live in the gardens.
My friends listen for your voice.
But let me hear it now.”

The woman says

You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!

She

Verse 14

“Come away with me, my love.
Be like an antelope
or like a young deer
on mountains that are full of spices.”

Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
on the spice-laden mountains.