Song of Songs 8
8
1-2I wish you’d been my twin brother,
sharing with me the breasts of my mother,
Playing outside in the street,
kissing in plain view of everyone,
and no one thinking anything of it.
I’d take you by the hand and bring you home
where I was raised by my mother.
You’d drink my wine
and kiss my cheeks.
3-4Imagine! His left hand cradling my head,
his right arm around my waist!
Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem:
Don’t excite love, don’t stir it up,
until the time is ripe—and you’re ready.
The Chorus
5Who is this I see coming up from the country,
arm in arm with her lover?
The Man
I found you under the apricot tree,
and woke you up to love.
Your mother went into labor under that tree,
and under that very tree she bore you.
The Woman
6-8a Hang my locket around your neck,
wear my ring on your finger.
Love is invincible facing danger and death.
Passion laughs at the terrors of hell.
The fire of love stops at nothing—
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown love,
torrents of rain can’t put it out.
Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold—
it’s not to be found in the marketplace.
My brothers used to worry about me:
8b-9 “Our little sister has no breasts.
What shall we do with our little sister
when men come asking for her?
She’s a virgin and vulnerable,
and we’ll protect her.
If they think she’s a wall, we’ll top it with barbed wire.
If they think she’s a door, we’ll barricade it.”
10Dear brothers, I’m a walled-in virgin still,
but my breasts are full—
And when my lover sees me,
he knows he’ll soon be satisfied.
The Man
11-12King Solomon may have vast vineyards
in lush, fertile country,
Where he hires others to work the ground.
People pay anything to get in on that bounty.
But my vineyard is all mine,
and I’m keeping it to myself.
You can have your vast vineyards, Solomon,
you and your greedy guests!
13Oh, lady of the gardens,
my friends are with me listening.
Let me hear your voice!
The Woman
14Run to me, dear lover.
Come like a gazelle.
Leap like a wild stag
on the spice mountains.
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Song of Songs 8: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Song of Solomon 8
8
1Oh that you were like my brother,
who nursed from the breasts of my mother!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you;
yes, and no one would despise me.
2I would lead you, bringing you into the house of my mother,
who would instruct me.
I would have you drink spiced wine,
of the juice of my pomegranate.
3His left hand would be under my head.
His right hand would embrace me.
4I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
that you not stir up, nor awaken love,
until it so desires.
Friends
5Who is this who comes up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Beloved
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother conceived you.
There she was in labor and bore you.
6Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
for love is strong as death.
Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol.#8:6 Sheol is the place of the dead.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a very flame of Yah.#8:6 “Yah” is a short form of “Yahweh”, which is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “Lord” (all caps) in other translations.
7Many waters can’t quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love,
he would be utterly scorned.
Brothers
8We have a little sister.
She has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
in the day when she is to be spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
we will build on her a turret of silver.
If she is a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
Beloved
10I am a wall, and my breasts like towers,
then I was in his eyes like one who found peace.
11Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He leased out the vineyard to keepers.
Each was to bring a thousand shekels#8:11 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 1000 shekels is about 10 kilograms or about 22 pounds. of silver for its fruit.
12My own vineyard is before me.
The thousand are for you, Solomon,
two hundred for those who tend its fruit.
Lover
13You who dwell in the gardens, with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!
Beloved
14Come away, my beloved!
Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!
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