Song of Songs 8 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Power and Preciousness of Love

8“Oh that you were like a brother to meWho nursed at my mother’s breasts.If I found you outside, I would kiss you;No one would despise me, either.²“I would lead you and ^abring youInto the house of my mother, who used to teach me;I would give you spiced wine to drink from the sweet wine of my pomegranates.³“Let ^ahis left hand be under my headAnd his right hand embrace me.”⁴“¹^,^aI call you to solemnly swear, O daughters of Jerusalem,²Why should you arouse or awaken my loveUntil ³she pleases?”⁵“¹^,^aWho is this coming up from the wildernessLeaning on her beloved?”“²Beneath the ³^,^bapple tree I awakened you;There your mother was in labor with you;There she was in labor and gave you birth.⁶“Put me like a ¹seal over your heart,Like a ^aseal on your arm.For love is as strong as death,²^,^bJealousy is as severe as Sheol;Its flashes are flashes of fire,³The very flame of ⁴Yah.⁷“Many waters cannot quench love,Nor will rivers overflow it;^aIf a man were to give all the riches of his house for love,It would be utterly despised.”⁸“¹We have a little sister,And she ^ahas no breasts;What shall we do for our sisterOn the day when she is spoken for?⁹“If she is a wall,We will build on her a battlement of silver;But if she is a door,We will barricade her with ^aplanks of cedar.”¹⁰“¹I was a wall, and ^amy breasts were like towers;Then I became in his eyes as one who finds peace.¹¹“Solomon had a ^avineyard at Baal-hamon;He ^bgave the vineyard to ^ccaretakers.Each one was to bring ¹one ^dthousand shekels of silver for its ^efruit.¹²“My very own vineyard is before me;The thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,And two hundred are for those who take care of its fruit.”¹³“¹O you who sit in the gardens,My ^acompanions are giving heed to your voice—^bLet me hear it!”¹⁴“¹^,²Hurry, my beloved,And be ^alike a gazelle or a young ³stagOn the ^bmountains of spices.”