Amahubo 137

1 Emifuleni yeBhabhiloni sahlala phansi khona, yebo sakhala inyembezi, lapho sikhumbula iZiyoni.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we thought about Zion.

2 Amachacho ethu sawaphanyeka eminyezaneni phakathi kwayo.

On the poplars there we hung our harps.

3 Ngoba khonapho abasithumbayo basicela amazwi engoma, labasimotshayo bacela injabulo besithi: Sihlabeleleni enye yezingoma zeZiyoni.

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 Singahlabela njani ingoma yeNkosi elizweni lemzini?

How could we sing a song about Yahweh in a foreign land?

5 Uba ngikukhohlwa, Jerusalema, isandla sami sokunene kasikhohlwe ubungcitshi.

If I ignore the memory of you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.

6 Ulimi lwami kalunamathele elwangeni lwami, uba ngingakukhumbuli, uba ngingaphakamisi iJerusalema phezu kwentokozo yami enkulu.

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 Khumbula, Nkosi, ngabantwana bakoEdoma, ngosuku lweJerusalema, abathi: Dilizani, dilizani, kuze kube sesisekelweni sayo.

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 Ndodakazi yeBhabhiloni, ozabhujiswa, ubusisiwe ozaphindisela kuwe isenzo osenze kithi.

Daughter of Babylon, soon to be destroyed— may the person be blessed, whoever pays you back for what you have done to us.

9 Ubusisiwe ozabamba asakaze abantwana bakho edwaleni.

May the person be blessed, whoever takes and dashes your little ones against a rock.