Song of Solomon 8

Longing for Her Beloved

1 Oh that you were like a brother to me
who nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I found you outside, I would kiss you,
and none would despise me.
2 I would lead you and r bring you
into the house of my mother -
she who used to teach me.
I would give you s spiced wine to drink,
the juice of my pomegranate.
3 t His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me!
4 I u adjure you, O v daughters of Jerusalem,
w that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.

5 x Who is that coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
Under the apple tree I awakened you.
There your mother was in labor with you;
there she who bore you was in labor.

6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as y a seal upon your arm,
for z love is strong as death,
a jealousy 1 is fierce as the grave. 2
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
the very b flame of the Lord.
7 Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If a man offered for love
all the wealth of his c house,
he 3 would be utterly despised.

Final Advice

Others

8 We have a little sister,
and she d has no breasts.
What shall we do for our sister
on 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 enclose her with e boards of cedar.

She

10 f I was a wall,
and my g breasts were like towers;
then I was in his eyes
as one who finds 4 peace.

11 Solomon had h a vineyard at Baal-hamon;
he i let out the vineyard to j keepers;
each one was to bring for its fruit k a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
you, O Solomon, may have the thousand,
and l the keepers of the fruit two hundred.

He

13 m O you who dwell in the gardens,
with n companions listening for your voice;
o let me hear it.

She

14 p Make haste, my beloved,
and be q like a gazelle
or a young stag
on r the mountains of spices.

  1. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 3:4
    Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
  2. Cross References
    Proverbs 9:2
    She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
    Proverbs 9:5
    Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
  3. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 2:6 - 7
    His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!
  4. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 2:7
    I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
  5. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 1:5
    I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  6. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 2:7
    I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the does of the field, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
  7. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 3:6
    What is that coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 49:16
    Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
    Jeremiah 22:24
    As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off
    Haggai 2:23
    On that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, declares the Lord, and make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, declares the Lord of hosts.
  9. Cross References
    Romans 8:35
    Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
  10. Cross References
    Exodus 34:14
    (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God).
    Deuteronomy 4:24
    For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
  11. Cross References
    Job 1:16
    While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
  12. Cross References
    Proverbs 6:35
    He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
  13. Cross References
    Ezekiel 16:7
    I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
  14. Cross References
    1 Kings 6:15
    He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.
  15. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 4:12 - 13
    A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
  16. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 4:5
    Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that graze among the lilies.
    Song of Solomon 7:3
    Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.
  17. Cross References
    Ecclesiastes 2:4
    I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
  18. Cross References
    Matthew 21:33
    Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
  19. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 1:6
    Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept!
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 7:23
    In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels of silver, will become briers and thorns.
  21. Cross References
    Proverbs 27:18
    Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.
  22. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 5:1
    I came to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gathered my myrrh with my spice, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!
  23. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 1:7
    Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?
  24. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 2:14
    O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
  25. Cross References
    Revelation 22:17
    The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
    Revelation 22:20
    He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
  26. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 2:9
    My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, there he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, looking through the lattice.
  27. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 4:6
    Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go away to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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