1  Oh that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, and none would despise me.

Sg8:2  I will take hold of you and lead you into my mother’s house. There you will teach me, and I will give you a cup of spiced wine, and of new wine from my pomegranates.

1  WHO shall give you to me for my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother? When I should find you in the street, I would kiss you; yea, I should not be despised.

2  I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, that thou mightest instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine, of the juice of my pomegranate.

Sg8:3  His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me.

3  His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.

Sg8:4  I bind you by oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, not to disturb or awaken the beloved, until she wills.

4  'I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem: Why should ye awaken, or stir up love, until it please?'

4  I have charged you, ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the virtues of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

Sg8:5  Who is she, who ascends from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?

5  Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple-tree I awakened thee; there thy mother was in travail with thee; there was she in travail and brought thee forth.

Sg8:6  Under the apple tree, I awakened you. There your mother was corrupted. There she who bore you was violated.

6  Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave; the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of YHWH.

Sg8:7  Set me like a seal upon your heart, like a seal upon your arm. For love is strong, like death, and envy is enduring, like hell: their lamps are made of fire and flames.

7  Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he would utterly be contemned.

7  Much water will not be able to quench love, and rivers shall not drown it; if a man would give all his substance for love, men would utterly despise it.

Sg8:8  A multitude of waters cannot extinguish love, nor can a river overwhelm it. If a man were to give all the substance of his house in exchange for love, he would despise it as nothing.

8  We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?

8  Our sister is little, and has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister, in the day wherein she shall be spoken for?

9  If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver; and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.

Sg8:10  If she is a wall, let us build a rampart of silver upon it. If she is a door, let us join it together with boards of cedar.

10  I am a wall, and my breasts like the towers thereof; then was I in his eyes as one that found peace.

11  Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he gave over the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof brought in a thousand pieces of silver.

Sg8:12  The peaceful one had a vineyard, in that which held the peoples. He handed it on to the caretakers; a man brought, in exchange for its fruit, a thousand pieces of silver.

12  My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.

Sg8:13  My vineyard is before me. The thousand is for your peacefulness, and two hundred is for those who care for its fruit.

13  Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken for thy voice: 'Cause me to hear it.'

Sg8:14  Flee away, my beloved, and become like the doe and the young stag upon the mountains of aromatic plants.

13  Those who sit in the gardens and listen to your voice, have reported your words to me.

14  Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a gazelle or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.

14  Away, my kinsman, and be like a doe or a fawn on the mountains of spices.