I will call down a blessing, 0 Zion, on the memory of thee;¹ with all my might have I loved thee:² 'Blessed for evermore be the memory of thee!'⁸

Great has been thy hope, 0 Zion, thy quiet, longing hope⁴ that salvation would come to thee;⁵ that men would be dwelling in thee till the end of time;⁶ that successions⁷ of godly men would be there for thine ornament; that men who now are yearning for the day of thy salvation, who find joy in thy manifold glory, would yet drink in that glory of thine like mother's milk,⁸ and stroll through thy beautiful squares to the jingling of bells;⁹ that thou wouldst yet conjure up the godly devotion of thy prophets and find thy pride in the things wrought by thy saints-in the purging of all violence from within thee, with (all) falsehood and frowardness cut off; that thy children would make merry in thy midst, and thy friends who have allied themselves with thee.¹⁰

(How have they been hoping for thy salvation,¹¹ and mourning over thee!)¹²

This hope of thine, 0 Zion, shall prove not a hope forlorn,¹³ nor shall this yearning of thine become a forgotten thing. Who ever perished, being righteous,¹⁴ or whom in his frowardness has God ever allowed to go free? Nay, there is never a man that is not brought to trial for the way he has trod, and none but receives his deserts for the deeds he has done. Nevertheless, 0 Zion, no foe ever compassed thee¹⁵ but was (in the end) cut down, and none has nursed hate for thee but was put to rout!¹⁶

A scent¹⁷ unto the nostrils is the fame of thee, 0 Zion, (diffused)¹⁸ over all the world! Over and over again will I call down a blessing upon the memory of thee: with all my heart¹⁹ invoke (this) benediction upon thee:

'Mayest thou yet attain the triumph of righteousness world without end,²⁰ and receive the blessings shed on men marked out for honor!²¹ Reap thou the harvest²² of that vision²³ that once was spoken of thee, and may there ensue for thee what the prophets dreamed!'²⁴

Grow high and wide, 0 Zion! Praise the Most High, thy Redeemer! When thou art brought to honor my soul will rejoice.²⁵