Okulila kwAaisraeli muupongekwa
1 Otwa kuutumba pomilonga dhaBabilon e tatu lili,
sho twa dhimbulukwa Sion.
2 Uuhumba wetu otwe u tsilike komiti dhopomulonga.
3 Oshoka aahepeki yetu oye tu pula,
tu ya nyanyudhe, ya ti:
“Tu imbileni omaimbilo taga popi Sion.”
4 Otatu vulu ngiini okwiimbila Omuwa
tu li mevi lyuundjendi?
5 Jerusalem, ngele otandi ku dhimbwa,
nena oshikaha shandje shokolulyo nashi lemane.
6 Elaka lyandje nali kakatele kondaathelo,
ngele otandi ku dhimbwa, Jerusalem,
ngoye ngo ho nyanyudha ndje unene!
7 Omuwa, ino dhimbwa, Aaedomi sho ya ningi,
uuna Jerusalem sha teka po.
Oyi igidha ya ti:
“Shi kumunii po, shi teyii po sigo
okomakankameno gasho!”
8 Yaye, shilando Babilon!
Oto ka hanagulwa po.
Omunelago oye ngoka te ku galulile shoka we tu ningile.
9 Omunelago oye ngoka ta kutha uuhanona woye
e te wu ndandele komamanya.
A Lament of Israelites in Exile
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down;
there we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows near by
we hung up our harps.
3 Those who captured us told us to sing;
they told us to entertain them:
“Sing us a song about Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 May I never be able to play the harp again
if I forget you, Jerusalem!
6 May I never be able to sing again
if I do not remember you,
if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
the day Jerusalem was captured.
Remember how they kept saying,
“Tear it down to the ground!”
8 Babylon, you will be destroyed.
Happy are those who pay you back
for what you have done to us—
9 who take your babies
and smash them against a rock.
