Song of Songs 7–8: His Desire Is for Me": The Seal, the Flame, and the Vineyard That Is Hers
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
How beautiful are your sandaled feet,O daughter of the prince!The curves of your thighs are like jewels,the handiwork of a master.Your navel is a rounded goblet;it never lacks blended wine.Your waist is a mound of wheatencircled by the lilies.Your breasts are like two fawns,twins of a gazelle.Your neck is like a towermade of ivory;your eyes are like the pools of Heshbonby the gate of Bath-rabbim;your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,facing toward Damascus.Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,the hair of your head like purple threads;the king is captured in your tresses.
How fair and pleasant you are,O love, with your delights!Your stature is like a palm tree;your breasts are clusters of fruit.I said, “I will climb the palm tree;I will take hold of its fruit.”May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,the fragrance of your breath like apples,and your mouth like the finest wine.
The BrideMay it flow smoothly to my beloved,gliding gently over lips and teeth.
I belong to my beloved,and his desire is for me.Come, my beloved,let us go to the countryside;let us spend the night among the wildflowers.
Let us go early to the vineyardsto see if the vine has budded,if the blossom has opened,if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.
The mandrakes send forth a fragrance,and at our door is every delicacy,new as well as old,that I have treasured up for you, my beloved.O that you were to me like a brotherwho nursed at my mother’s breasts!If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you,and no one would despise me.I would lead you and bring youto the house of my mother who taught me.I would give you spiced wine to drink,the nectar of my pomegranates.
His left hand is under my head,and his right arm embraces me.O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you:Do not arouse or awaken loveuntil the time is right.
The FriendsWho is this coming up from the wilderness,leaning on her beloved?
The BrideI roused you under the apple tree;there your mother conceived you;there she travailed and brought you forth.
Set me as a seal over your heart,as a seal upon your arm.For love is as strong as death,its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol.Its sparks are fiery flames,the fiercest blaze of all.Mighty waters cannot quench love;rivers cannot sweep it away.If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love,his offer would be utterly scorned.
The FriendsWe have a little sister,and her breasts are not yet grown.What shall we do for our sisteron the day she is spoken for?If she is a wall,we will build a tower of silver to protect her.If she is a door,we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
The BrideI am a wall,and my breasts are like towers.So I have become in his eyeslike one who brings peace.Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon.He leased it to the tenants.For its fruit, each was to bringa thousand shekels of silver.But my own vineyard is mine to give;the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon,and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
The BridegroomYou who dwell in the gardens,my companions are listening for your voice.Let me hear it!
The BrideCome away, my beloved,and be like a gazelleor a young stagon the mountains of spices.