Ma'oz Tzur

Refuge, Rock of my salvation: to You it is a delight to give praise.
Restore my House of prayer, so that there I may offer You thanksgiving.
When You silence the loud-mouthed foe,
then will I complete, with song and psalm, the altar’s dedication.

Troubles sated my soul; my strength was spent with sorrow.
They embittered my life with hardship, when I was enslaved under Egyptian rule.
But God with His great power brought out His treasured people,
While Pharaoh’s host and followers sank like a stone into the deep.

He brought me to His holy abode, but even there I found no rest.
The oppressor came and exiled me, because I had served strange gods.
I had drunk poisoned wine. I almost perished.
Then Babylon fell, Zerubbabel came: within seventy years I was saved.

The Agagite, son of Hammedatha, sought to cut down the tall fir tree,
But it became a trap to him, and his arrogance was brought to an end.
You raised the head of the Benjaminite, and the enemy’s name You blotted out.
His many sons and his household You hanged on the gallows.

Then the Greeks gathered against me, in the days of Hasmoneans.
They broke down the walls of my towers, and defiled all the oils.
But from the last remaining flask, a miracle was wrought for Your beloved.
Therefore the Sages ordained these eight days for song and praise.

Bare Your holy arm, and hasten the time of salvation.
Take retribution against the evil nation on behalf of Your servants,
For the hour [of deliverance] has been too long delayed; there seems no end to the evil days.
Thrust the enemy into the darkness of death, and establish for us the seven Shepherds.