1 Ungati ungabe uli hazwadzi kundili,
wakamwa zhamu la mme bangu!
Ha ndakabe ndashangana nawe kuzhe,
ndobe ndakakuputa,
kwakabe kusina mmwe wakabe angandilingila pasi.
2 Ndabe ndowokutungamila akuzhisa
mu ng'umba ya mme bangu,
mukati kwe ng'umba ya iye wakandidiya,
ndabendowokupa nkumbi we zhambi
wakalongwa zwipayisi kuti ung'we
ne nkumbi we dzipomegiranate.
3 Ungati luboko gugwe gwe lumeshwe gungabe
guli pasi kwe nsholo wangu, gwe luji gwakandigumbatila!
4 Ndomukumbila, imwi bakololokadzi be Jerusalema,
kuti musitongo shoka kene musa ludo kuswikilila gwada igo.
Lumbo gwe butathatu
5 Ndiani iwouje waswika kudwa ku tjilambanyika,
akasendama mu tjido tje moyo tjitje?
Ndakakumusa ulikusi kwe nti we dziapuli.
Ipapo ndipo mmeyabo pa bakakuzibula,
ipapo iye wakakuzwala wakakuzibula.
6 Undiyite se rin'gi mu moyo uwo,
se rin'gi pa luboko gugo;
ngobe ludo gwakasima se lufu,
ndandala ihwukutu se ikumbu,
Pisa kwago hwupisa kwe moto,
uli bhuba lakabangalala.
7 Vula njinji aitogupkhwisa nyota ye ludo,
ne vula ye gubakube aingagunyaladze,
nenguba nthu angapa fumwa yose ye ng'umba iye
kuti awane ludo, ungadadigwa kwazo.
8 Tina tjinung'una tjedu tje tjisikana,
atjina mazhamu.
Tingathamilani tjinung'una tjedu wali,
zhuba latjinowokumbigwa?
9 Ha tjili guma,
towobaka pa nsholo watjo shongwe ye siliva
ngono ha tjili nkoba,
towotjikombeledza ne mapulanka e nsida.
10 Ndakabe ndili guma
mazhamu akabe enga thungamakole,
ipapo ndakabe mu mesho awe ndifanana
ne nthu unozhisa kunyalala.
11 Solomoni wakabe ana nnda we mizhambi ku Bhaale Hamoni,
Wakasayidza nnda iwoyo batjengeti,
eti mmwe ne mmwe wabo anlipe zwiwulu (1 000) zwe siliva,
mu mitjelo yaakatjela.
12 Nnda wangu we mizhambi, iwo wangu, nde wangu,
iwe, Solomoni, ungana ukabe ne tjiwulu (1 000),
batjengeti be mitjelo mazana mabili (200).
13 Iwe unogala mu minda,
bakwinya bangu bakateedza hwi lilo,
ima ndilihwe.
14 Tjimbidza, tjibhayamoyo tjangu, unge phala
kene phalanalume,
pezhugwi kwe matombo e zwipayisi.
1 I wish that you were my brother,
that my mother had nursed you at her breast.
Then, if I met you in the street,
I could kiss you and no one would mind.
2 I would take you to my mother's house,
where you could teach me love.
I would give you spiced wine,
my pomegranate wine to drink.
3 Your left hand is under my head,
and your right hand caresses me.
4 Promise me, women of Jerusalem,
that you will not interrupt our love.
The Sixth Song
The Women
5 Who is this coming from the desert,
arm in arm with her lover?
The Woman
Under the apple tree I woke you,
in the place where you were born.
6 Close your heart to every love but mine;
hold no one in your arms but me.
Love is as powerful as death;
passion is as strong as death itself.
It bursts into flame
and burns like a raging fire.
7 Water cannot put it out;
no flood can drown it.
But if any tried to buy love with their wealth,
contempt is all they would get.
The Woman's Brothers
8 We have a young sister,
and her breasts are still small.
What will we do for her
when a young man comes courting?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build her a silver tower.
But if she is a gate,
we will protect her with panels of cedar.
The Woman
10 I am a wall,
and my breasts are its towers.
My lover knows that with him
I find contentment and peace.
The Man
11 Solomon has a vineyard
in a place called Baal Hamon.
There are farmers who rent it from him;
each one pays a thousand silver coins.
12 Solomon is welcome to his thousand coins,
and the farmers to two hundred as their share;
I have a vineyard of my own!
13 Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love;
my companions are waiting to hear you speak.
The Woman
14 Come to me, my lover, like a gazelle,
like a young stag on the mountains where spices grow.