< Banzembo 137 >

1 Ezalaki biso ya kovanda pembeni ya bibale ya Babiloni, tozalaki kolela na tozalaki kokanisa Siona.
By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we thought about Zion.
2 Todiembikaki mandanda na biso na banzete ya pepiliye ya etuka yango.
On the poplars there we hung our harps.
3 Kuna, bato oyo bamemaki biso na bowumbu bazalaki kosenga biso banzembo; mpe banyokoli na biso bazalaki kosenga biso ete tozala na esengo. Bazalaki koloba: « Boyembela biso banzembo ya Siona! »
There our captors required songs from us, and those who mocked us required us to be happy, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 Tokoyemba banzembo ya Yawe ndenge nini na mabele ya bapaya?
How could we sing a song about Yahweh in a foreign land?
5 Oh Yelusalemi, soki nabosani yo, wana tika ete loboko na ngai ya mobali elemba!
If I ignore the memory of you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.
6 Soki natiki penza kokanisa yo, Yelusalemi, soki natie yo te liboso ya esengo nyonso, wana tika ete lolemo na ngai ekangama kati na monoko na ngai!
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I think about you no more, if I do not prefer Jerusalem more than my greatest delights.
7 Yawe, kobosana te bato ya Edomi oyo basekaki Yelusalemi na mokolo na yango ya mawa; bazalaki koganga: « Bobuka yango, bobuka kino na miboko na yango! »
Call to mind, Yahweh, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations.”
8 Babiloni, engumba kitoko, yo oyo okobebisama solo, esengo na moto oyo akozongisela yo mabe na mabe oyo osalaki biso!
Daughter of Babylon, soon to be destroyed— may the person be blessed, whoever pays you back for what you have done to us.
9 Esengo na moto oyo akokanga bana na yo mpe akonika bango na libanga!
May the person be blessed, whoever takes and dashes your little ones against a rock.

< Banzembo 137 >