one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,

  I would find you in public and kiss you,

  and no one would scorn me.

  2I would lead you, I would take you,

  to the house of my motherb who taught me.c

  I would give you spiced wine to drink

  from my pomegranate juice.

  3His left hand is under my head,

  and his right arm embraces me.d

  4Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you:

  do not stir up or awaken love

  until the appropriate time.e

Y 5Who is thisf coming up from the wilderness,

  leaning on the one she loves?

W I awakened you under the apricot tree.g

  There your mother conceived you;

  there she conceived and gave you birth.

  6Set me as a seal on your heart,

  as a seal on your arm.h

  For love is as strong as death;i

  ardent love is as unrelenting as •Sheol.

  Love’s flames are fiery flamesj —

  the fiercest of all.k

  7Mighty waters cannot extinguish love;

  rivers cannot sweep it away.

  If a man were to give all his wealthl for love,m

  it would be utterly scorned.

B 8Our sister is young;

  she has no breasts.n

  What will we do for our sister

  on the day she is spoken for?

  9If she is a wall,

  we will build a silver parapet on it.

  If she is a door,

  we will enclose it with cedar planks.o, p

W 10I amq a wall

  and my breasts like towers.

  So in his eyes I have become

  like one who finds peace.r

  11Solomon owned a vineyard in Baal-hamon.s

  He leased the vineyard to tenants.t

  Each was to bring for his fruit

  1,000 pieces of silver.u

  12I have my own vineyard.v, w

  The 1,000 are for you, Solomon,

  but 200 for those who guard its fruits.

M 13Youx who dwell in the gardens —

  companionsy are listening for your voice —

  let me hear you!z

W 14Hurry to me, my love,

  and be like a gazelle

  or a young stag

  on the mountains of spices.aa