Yerushalayim Shel Zahav
CD Title:
Artist: Ofra Haza
Transliteration:
Avir harim zalul kayayin
Ve-rei'ah oranim
Nissa be-ru'ah ha'arbayim
Im kol pa'amonim
The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bellsU-ve-tardemat ilan va-even
And in the slumber of tree and stone
Shvuyah ba-halomah
Ha-ir asher badad yoshevet
U-ve-libbah homah
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wallYerushalayim shel zahav
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Ve-shel nehoshet ve-shel or
Ha-lo le-khol shirayich ani kinnor
Behold I am a violin for all your songsEicha yavshu borot ha-mayim
How the cisterns have dried
Kikkar ha-shuk reikah
Ve-ein poked et Har ha-Bayit
Ba-ir ha-attikah
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old CityU-va-me'arot asher ba-selah
And in the caves in the mountain
Meyallelot ruhot
Ve-ein yored el Yam ha-Melah
Be-derech Yericho
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of JerichoYerushalayim shel zahav
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Ve-shel nehoshet ve-shel or
Ha-lo le-khol shirayich ani kinnor
Behold I am a violin for all your songsAch be-vo'i ha-yom la-shir lach
But as I come to sing to you today
Ve-lach likshor ketarim
Katonti mi-ze'ir bana'ich
U-me-aharon ha-meshorerim
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born)Ki shemech zorev et ha-sefatayim
For your name scorches the lips
Ke-neshikat saraf
Im eshkachech Yerushalayim
Asher kullah zahav
Like the kiss of a seraf
If I forget thee, Jerusalem
Which is all gold...Yerushalayim shel zahav
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Ve-shel nehoshet ve-shel or
Ha-lo le-chol shirayich ani kinnor
Behold I am a violin for all your songsHazarnu el borot ha-mayim
We have returned to the cisterns
La-shuk ve-la-kikkar
Shofar kore be-Har ha-Bayit
Ba-ir ha-attikah
To the market and to the market-place
A ram's horn (shofar) calls out (i.e. is being heard) on the Temple Mount
In the Old CityU-va-me'arot asher ba-selah
And in the caves in the mountain
Alfey shemashot zorhot
Nashuv nered el Yam ha-Melah
Be-derech Yericho
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!Yerushalayim shel zahav
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Ve-shel nehoshet ve-shel or
Ha-lo le-chol shirayich ani kinnor
Behold I am a violin for all your songs