1O that thou wert as my brother , that sucked the breasts of my mother ! when I should find thee without , I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised . 2I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house , who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate . 3His left hand should be under my head , and his right hand should embrace me. 4I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem , that ye stir not up , nor awake my love , until he please .
The Power of Love
5Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness , leaning upon her beloved ? I raised thee up under the apple tree : there thy mother brought thee forth : there she brought thee forth that bare thee. 6Set me as a seal upon thine heart , as a seal upon thine arm : for love is strong as death ; jealousy is cruel as the grave : the coals thereof are coals of fire , which hath a most vehement flame . 7Many waters cannot quench love , neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love , it would utterly be contemned .
The Call to Commitment
8We 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 ? 9If she be a wall , we will build upon her a palace of silver : and if she be a door , we will inclose her with boards of cedar . 10I am a wall , and my breasts like towers : then was I in his eyes as one that found favour . 11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon ; he let out the vineyard unto keepers ; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver . 12My vineyard , which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon , must have a thousand , and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred . 13Thou that dwellest in the gardens , the companions hearken to thy voice : cause me to hear it . 14Make haste , my beloved , and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices .