¹¶ I te taha o nga wai o Papurona, noho ana tatou i reira, ae, tangi ana tatou, ia tatou i mahara ai ki Hiona.

¹By rivers of Babylon — There we did sit, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

²Whakairia ake e tatou a tatou hapa ki runga ki nga wirou i waenganui o reira.

²On willows in its midst we hung our harps.

³No te mea i tono i reira te hunga nana tatou i herehere ki etahi waiata i a tatou, me te hunga nana tatou i tukino i tono mai he hari i a tatou, i mea mai, Waiatatia mai ki a matou tetahi o nga waiate o Hiona.

³For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers — joy: `Sing ye to us of a song of Zion.`

⁴Me pehea matou ka waiata ai i te waiata a Ihowa i te whenua tauhou?

⁴How do we sing the song of Jehovah, On the land of a stranger?

⁵Ki te wareware ahau ki a koe, e Hiruharama, kia wareware toku ringa matau ki tana mahi.

⁵If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!

⁶Ki te kore ahau e mahara ki a koe, kia piri toku arero ki toku ngao; ki te kore ahau e whakanui i Hiruharama ki runga ake i taku mea i tino hari ai.

⁶My tongue doth cleave to my palate, If I do not remember thee, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.

⁷¶ E Ihowa, maharatia nga tama a Eroma i te ra o Hiruharama; ta ratou meatanga, Whakahoroa, whakahoroa, a taea rawatia ano tona turanga.

⁷Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, `Rase, rase to its foundation!`

⁸E te tamahine o Papurona, meake nei whakangaromia, ka hari te tangata e utua ai koe mo tau i mea ai ki a matou.

⁸O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.

⁹Ka hari te tangata e hopu ana, e ta ana i au mea nohinohi ki runga ki te kohatu.

⁹O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!