137ú Salm - 137th Psalm
The hanging gardens of Babylon circa 600 BC
This piece was written by the psalmist to mark the years of exile the people of Israel spent in Babylon (a city in modern Iraq) after the conquest of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. It is a psalm of sadness, and longing by the people of Israel to return to their homes in the promised land, and their temple in Jerusalem.
Rest mouse on shamrock to reveal phonetics
ois sruthanna na Bablóine
a shuíomar ag sileadh deor,
ag cuimhneamh dúinn ar Shíón.
By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat and wept
when we remembered Sion
2 Ar shaileoga na tíre sin
chrochamar ár gcruiteanna.
On the willows of that land
we hung up our harps,
3. óir an drong a rinne bránna dínn,
d’iarr siad amhráin orainn,
agus an drong a bhíodh dár gciapadh,
d’iarr siad lúcháir orainn:
Scaoiligí chugainn, a deiridís,
amhrán d’amhráin Shíón.
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
"Sing for us the songs of Sion!"
4 Conas a chanfaimis amhrán an Tiarna
i dtír na gcoimhthíoch?
How could we sing a song of the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 Má dhéanaim dearmad ort, a Iarúsailéim,
go gcrapa mo dheaslámh!
Go gceanglaí mo theanga de mo charball,
mura gcuimhním ort,
mura gcuire mé Iarúsailéim
mar bharr m’aoibhnis uile.
If I forget you Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy,
