Zabbuli 137

1 Twatuula ku mabbali g’emigga gy’e Babulooni, ne tukaaba amaziga bwe twajjukira Sayuuni.

By the waters of Babylon there we sat, and we wept at the thought of Zion.

2 Ne tuwanika ennanga zaffe ku miti egyali awo.

There on the poplars we hung our harps.

3 Abaatunyaga ne batulagira okuyimba, abaatubonyaabonya ne batulagira okusanyuka; nga bagamba nti, “Mutuyimbireyo lumu ku nnyimba za Sayuuni.”

For there our captors called for a song: our tormentors, rejoicing, saying: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’

4 Tunaayimba tutya oluyimba lwa Mukama mu nsi eteri yaffe?

How can we sing the Lord’s song in the foreigner’s land?

5 Bwe nnaakwerabiranga, ggwe Yerusaalemi, omukono gwange ogwa ddyo gukale!

If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.

6 Olulimi lwange lwesibire waggulu w’ekibuno kyange singa nkwerabira, ggwe Yerusaalemi, ne sikulowoozaako okusinga ebintu ebirala byonna.

May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I am unmindful of you, or don’t set Jerusalem above my chief joy.

7 Jjukira, Ayi Mukama, batabani ba Edomu kye baakola, ku lunaku Yerusaalemi lwe kyawambibwa; ne baleekaana nti, “Kisuule, kimalirewo ddala n’emisingi gyakyo.”

Remember the Edomites, Lord, the day of Jerusalem’s fall, when they said, ‘Lay her bare, lay her bare, right down to her very foundation.’

8 Ggwe omuwala wa Babulooni, agenda okuzikirizibwa, yeesiimye oyo alikusasula ebyo nga naawe bye watukola.

Babylon, despoiler, happy are those who pay you back for all you have done to us.

9 Yeesiimye oyo aliddira abaana bo n’ababetentera ku lwazi.

Happy are they who seize and dash your children against the rocks.