Lyrics:
By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
How can we sing the LORD'S song
In a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, "Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation."
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
Passover
I stand so that I don’t stop in front of
who knows whose doors.
And again I check out if I’m awake or I dream,
whether I introspect or fantasize,
what the devil is wrong with me, who knows...
And I look for a sign, a trace of suffering, is this the land
he used to walk over?
Did they really kill him, the one who was chosen, who was taken out of the desert, oh, God?
Why do I stand petrified and have no such force?
Do I not believe enough or do I misunderstand?
Where do these doubts come from,
Where does this fear come from?
Will he open to me, will he take me in?
And the one I come from will not allow,
the one who loved me will not abandon me alone in the middle of the thick forest and hands that grab me.
Oh, God, Lord, praise be thee...
Like a cedar I grew tall, like a cypress exalted
Like a palm tree in the garden, a rosebush in Engedi.
Like precious myrrh I gave forth perfume, a fragrant cane in Jericho.
Like a fair olive tree near the deep blue sea,
Like a marble mountain anchored in the middle of a field.
Like a strong fortress, protected by Thee.
Like a voice of prophets, solemn, holy.
To cry out of the depths, to sing in the desert.
Like a stone to roll downhill into abyss.
Like a mountain stream to rush to Thee.
To run to Thee, to bring forth glory to Thee