Tjililo tje Baiziraela bali kutapiwa
1 Pa njizi dze Bhabhiloni,
takagala pasi ngono tikalila
ha tikumbula Ziyoni.
2 Mu miti inoyi wilo
tikatilika matende edu.
3 Ngobe batapi bedu
bakati tibambile njimbo,
ne balisi bedu beti tibambile tibashathise,
bakatidwa bakati,
“Mutimbile gumwe gwe njimbo dze Ziyoni!”
4 Apa tingamba lumbo gwa Yahwe tjini
mu shango ye butaya kene?
5 Ha ndingakukangang'wa, iwe Jerusalema,
luboko gwangu gwe luji ngagushweshwane!
6 Lulimi gwangu ngagunamatile bgwasha gwangu,
ha ndisinga mukumbulukigwe,
ha ndisinga tole Jerusalema
ili shatho yangu wulu.
7 Kumbulani, imwi Yahwe,
ngekwe tjakathamwa ne Baedomu
mu zhuba lakawa Jerusalema
sekwa bakalebeleka beti, “Muwulige! Muwulige!
Kudwa pezhugwi kunoti ku thiwa dzawo!”
8 Iwe nkololokadzi we Bhabhiloni, iwe mpaladzi!
Bakakombolegwa ibabo banowokubgwilizila
itjetji tjawakatithama!
9 Bakakombolegwa ibabo banotola ngawana dzidzo
bebe bedzipkhwanyila pa shongwe!
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.