Repertoire

Al naharot Bavel
sham yashavnu gam bachinu
bezochrenu et Tsiyon.

By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat, sat and wept,
as we thought of Zion.

Al aravim betochah
talinu kinoroteinu.

There on the poplars
we hung up our lyres,

Ki sham she'elnunu
shoveinu divrei shir
vetolaleinu simcha
shiru lanu mishir Tsiyon.

for our captors
asked us there for songs,
our tormentors, for amusement,
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion."

Ech nashir et shir Adonai
al admat nechar.

How can we sing a song of the Lord
on alien soil?

Im eshkachech Yerushalayim
tishkach yemini.

I I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither;

Tidbak l'shoni l'chiki
im lo ezkerechi
im lo a'aleh et Yerushalayim
al rosh simchati.

let my tongue stick to my palate
if I cease to think of you,
if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even
at my happiest hour.

Zechor Adonai livnei Edom
et yom Yerushalayim
ha'omerim aru aru
ad hay'sod ba.

Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem’s fall;
how they cried, "Strip her, strip her
to her very foundations!"

Bat Bavel hashedudah
ashrei sheyeshalem lach
et gemulech
shegamalt lanu.

Fair Babylon, you predator,
a blessing on him
who repays you in kind what you have
inflicted on us;

Ashrei sheyochez venipets
et olalayich el hasala.

a blessing on him who seizes your babies
and dashes them against the stones!