1 O that thou were like my brother,

that nursed the breasts of immi (my mother)!

Then, if I should find thee outside, I would kiss thee;

yea, and no one would look down on me.

2 I would lead thee,

and bring thee into bais immi.*see 3:4 Thou wouldest instruct me;

I would cause thee to drink of spiced yayin

and the nectar of my pomegranate.

3 His left hand should be under my rosh,

and his right hand embrace me.

4 I charge you, O banot Yerushalayim,

that ye arouse nor awake HaAhavah (the Love)

till it pleases.†i.e., until its own time, see 2:7; 3:5

5 Who is this that cometh up from the midbar,

leaning upon her beloved?

Under the tapuach (apple tree) I awakened thee;

it was there thy em conceived thee;

there she who brought thee forth conceived thee.

6 Set me as a chotam (seal) upon thine lev,

as a chotam upon thine zero'a (arm);

for ahavah is strong as mavet (death);

kinah (jealousy) as unyielding as Sheol;

the flames thereof are flames of eish,

the flame of Hashem.

7 Mayim rabbim (many waters) cannot quench HaAhavah,

neither can the floods drown it;

if a man would give

all the wealth of his bais for ahavah,

it would be utterly scorned.

8 We have an achot ketannah (little sister),

and she hath as yet no breasts.

What shall we do for achoteinu (our sister)

in the day when she shall be spoken for?

9 If she be a chomah (wall),

we will build upon her a pinnacle of kesef;

and if she be a delet (door),

we will enclose her with panels of cedar.

10 I am a chomah (wall), and my breasts, like migdalot;

then was I in his eyes

like one that findeth shalom.

11 Sh'lomo had a kerem (vineyard) at Ba'al-Hamon;

he gave over the kerem (vineyard) unto caretakers;

each had to pay a thousand pieces of kesef for the p'ri (fruit) thereof.

12 My kerem (vineyard), which is mine, is at my own disposal;‡see 7:13 [14]

thou, O Sh'lomo, the thousand are for thee,

and two hundred for those that tend the p'ri thereof!

13 Thou that dwellest in the ganim (gardens),

the chaverim are listening for thy voice;

cause me to hear it.

14 Make haste, dodi (my beloved),

and be thou like to a gazelle

or a young deer upon the mountains where spices grow.