Page:Philip Birnbaum - ha-Siddur ha-Shalem (The Daily Prayer Book,1949).pdf/737

My soul is sated with trouble;
My strength is consumed with grief;
They made life bitter for me
With hard service in Egypt;
But God with his great power
Brought forth the chosen people,
While all the host of Pharaoh
Sank like stone into the deep.

He brought me to his holy shrine;
Even there I found no peace;
The foe came and exiled me,
Because I had served strange gods
And was dazed with poisoned wine.
Soon Babylon’s end drew near!
Guided by Zerubbabel,
I was saved after seventy years.

To cut down Mordecai’s tree
Was the design of Haman;
But it proved a snare to him,
And his arrogance was stilled.
Thou didst promote Mordecai
And didst blot out the foe’s name;
His numerous progeny
Didst thou hang on the gallows.

Greeks gathered to attack me
In the Hasmonean days;
They demolished my towers
And polluted all the oils;
From the last remaining flask
A miracle was wrought for Israel.
Men of wisdom then decreed
Eight days for hymns of praise.