Song of Songs 8 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Sng 8:1

Sng 8:1Young Woman
Oh, 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.

Sng 8:2

Sng 8:2I would bring you to my childhood home,
and there you would teach me.[fn]
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
my sweet pomegranate wine.

Sng 8:3

Sng 8:3Your left arm would be under my head,
and your right arm would embrace me.

Sng 8:4

Sng 8:4Promise me, O women of Jerusalem,
not to awaken love until the time is right.[fn]

Sng 8:5

Sng 8:5Young Women of Jerusalem
Who 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.

Sng 8:6

Sng 8:6Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
its jealousy[fn] as enduring as the grave.[fn]
Love flashes like fire,
the brightest kind of flame.

Sng 8:7

Sng 8:7Many 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

Sng 8:8

Sng 8:8We have a little sister
too young to have breasts.
What will we do for our sister
if someone asks to marry her?

Sng 8:9

Sng 8:9If 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.

Sng 8:10

Sng 8:10Young Woman
I 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.

Sng 8:11

Sng 8:11Solomon has a vineyard at Baal-hamon,
which he leases out to tenant farmers.
Each of them pays a thousand pieces of silver[fn]
for harvesting its fruit.

Sng 8:12

Sng 8:12But 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.

Sng 8:13

Sng 8:13Young Man
O my darling, lingering in the gardens,
your companions are fortunate to hear your voice.
Let me hear it, too!

Sng 8:14

Sng 8:14Young Woman
Come away, my love! Be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the mountains of spices.