Looking for help transcribing Hebrew Psalms

Hello all,

I recently started thinking about a project dealing with the Jerusalem Psalms. Jerusalem always has had a special place in my heart, and will continue to have so for many years to come. The Jerusalem Psalms are also known as the Songs of Ascents, the psalms sung by the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. In the Bible they comprise the numbers 120-134 (depending on which edition/religion you adhere, it may vary a number or so).

It is not my idea to set the entire cycle onto music, rather limiting myself to 3 or 4. For the opening chorus, the evocation (or Eisodos) I choose nr 122 (I rejoiced that they sad to me "let us go to the houseof Yahweh).

It would be my idea to use the Hebrew text rather than the English one, but here ... I face a problem: My Hebrew is not that good any more (if it ever has been good at all)

so I am getting a bit puzzeld by the diacritic signs under the letters. Is there somebody around here who would be willing to transcribe the Hebrew words in Roman characters, that would be a great help to me.

Many thanks in advance.

Just to make it clear what I want, I put here the relevant verses on the text

שָׂמַחְתִּי, בְּאֹמְרִים לִי-- בֵּית יְהוָה נֵלֵךְ

עֹמְדוֹת, הָיוּ רַגְלֵינוּ-- בִּשְׁעָרַיִךְ, יְרוּשָׁלִָם

עֹמְדוֹת, הָיוּ רַגְלֵינוּ-- בִּשְׁעָרַיִךְ, יְרוּשָׁלִָם

שַׁאֲלוּ, שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם; יִשְׁלָיוּ, אֹהֲבָיִךְ

יְהִי-שָׁלוֹם בְּחֵילֵךְ; שַׁלְוָה, בְּאַרְמְנוֹתָיִךְ.

לְמַעַן, אַחַי וְרֵעָי-- אֲדַבְּרָה-נָּא שָׁלוֹם בָּךְ.

לְמַעַן, בֵּית-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ-- אֲבַקְשָׁה טוֹב לָךְ.

P.S. Your name will be credited in the score

As far as I can tell, the transliteration is this:

Shir hama’alot l’David samachti b’omrim li bet Adonai nelech

Om’dot hayu ragleinu bisharayich Y’rushalaim

Y’rushalaim habenuya k’ir shechubra-lah yachdav

Shesham alu sh’vatim shivtei-yah edut l’yisrael l’hodot l’shem Adonai

Ki shamah yashvu khisot l’mishpat kisot l’veit David

Sha’alu sh’lom y’rushalaim yishlayu ohavayich

Y’hi-shalom b’cheilech shalvah b’arm’notayich

L’ma’an-achai v’re’ai adabrah-na shalom bach

L’ma’an beit-Adonai eloheinu avakshah tov lach

I haven't studied Hebrew extensively, but I learned the alphabet a while back and used several resources to transliterate, including:

http://www.levsoftware.com/Vmain.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niqqud

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20122&version=WLC

Here is a recording of the passage (Psalm 122) being read aloud by a native speaker:

http://www.aoal.org/Hebrew/AudioBible/27_Psalms/27-Psa_122.mp3

Enjoy! I hope it is accurate enough for your piece. Anyone reading this who has more knowledge of Hebrew than I do, please feel free to correct this.

As far as I can tell, the transliteration is this:

Shir hama’alot l’David samachti b’omrim li bet Adonai nelech

Om’dot hayu ragleinu bisharayich Y’rushalaim

Y’rushalaim habenuya k’ir shechubra-lah yachdav

Shesham alu sh’vatim shivtei-yah edut l’yisrael l’hodot l’shem Adonai

Ki shamah yashvu khisot l’mishpat kisot l’veit David

Sha’alu sh’lom y’rushalaim yishlayu ohavayich

Y’hi-shalom b’cheilech shalvah b’arm’notayich

L’ma’an-achai v’re’ai adabrah-na shalom bach

L’ma’an beit-Adonai eloheinu avakshah tov lach

Dear Guitar for God,

Thank you very much for your quick reply, which I just read.

Also many thanks for the transliteration which is most helpful for my work.

As promised, when finished I will gladly mention your name on the score.

Kind regards

Wolfgang Sachs

Dear Guitar for God,

Thank you very much for your quick reply, which I just read.

Also many thanks for the transliteration which is most helpful for my work.

As promised, when finished I will gladly mention your name on the score.

Kind regards

Wolfgang Sachs

Thanks! My name is Kevin Smith. Could you send me a copy when you are done? It sounds very interesting.

Thanks! My name is Kevin Smith. Could you send me a copy when you are done? It sounds very interesting.

Hi,

We will do so! Seems to me the least I could do :-)

Thanks again.

Wolfgang

The start of his transcription "Shir hama’alot l’David" was not in the hebrew text.

yep, it goes like this:

שָׂמַחְתִּי, בְּאֹמְרִים לִי-- בֵּית יְהוָה נֵלֵךְ

samachty, beh omriem lee -- biet adonie nehlech

עֹמְדוֹת, הָיוּ רַגְלֵינוּ-- בִּשְׁעָרַיִךְ, יְרוּשָׁלִָם

omdot, hayu ragleynu -- beh shehariech, yerushalem

עֹמְדוֹת, הָיוּ רַגְלֵינוּ-- בִּשְׁעָרַיִךְ, יְרוּשָׁלִָם

omdot, hayu ragleynu -- beh shehariech, yerushalem

שַׁאֲלוּ, שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם; יִשְׁלָיוּ, אֹהֲבָיִךְ

shealu, shlom yeroshalem; yishlavu, ohavaich

יְהִי-שָׁלוֹם בְּחֵילֵךְ; שַׁלְוָה, בְּאַרְמְנוֹתָיִךְ.

yehi-shalom beh chielech; shalva, beh armonotayich

לְמַעַן, אַחַי וְרֵעָי-- אֲדַבְּרָה-נָּא שָׁלוֹם בָּךְ.

leh mahan, achay veh rehay -- adabera-na shalom bach.

לְמַעַן, בֵּית-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ-- אֲבַקְשָׁה טוֹב לָךְ.

leh mahan, beyt adony eloheynu --- evakshecha tov lecha.

yep, it goes like this:

שָׂמַחְתִּי, בְּאֹמְרִים לִי-- בֵּית יְהוָה נֵלֵךְ

samachty, beh omriem lee -- biet adonie nehlech

עֹמְדוֹת, הָיוּ רַגְלֵינוּ-- בִּשְׁעָרַיִךְ, יְרוּשָׁלִָם

omdot, hayu ragleynu -- beh shehariech, yerushalem

עֹמְדוֹת, הָיוּ רַגְלֵינוּ-- בִּשְׁעָרַיִךְ, יְרוּשָׁלִָם

omdot, hayu ragleynu -- beh shehariech, yerushalem

שַׁאֲלוּ, שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם; יִשְׁלָיוּ, אֹהֲבָיִךְ

shealu, shlom yeroshalem; yishlavu, ohavaich

יְהִי-שָׁלוֹם בְּחֵילֵךְ; שַׁלְוָה, בְּאַרְמְנוֹתָיִךְ.

yehi-shalom beh chielech; shalva, beh armonotayich

לְמַעַן, אַחַי וְרֵעָי-- אֲדַבְּרָה-נָּא שָׁלוֹם בָּךְ.

leh mahan, achay veh rehay -- adabera-na shalom bach.

לְמַעַן, בֵּית-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ-- אֲבַקְשָׁה טוֹב לָךְ.

leh mahan, beyt adony eloheynu --- evakshecha tov lecha.

the previous transliteration is a little better.

the word בֵּית is transliterated here in different ways (biet line 1 but beyt in the last)

The prefixes like בְּ are spelled as a separate word, but should be connected to the next word.

The final word לָךְ is "lach", not "lecha"

Since there are differences in sefardic and askenasic pronounciation. And what will be the language of the people singing this psalm. For example an "h" is different pronounced in different languages

oops, since the first translation started with "mizmor le david" which i didn't see in the text, thought he was off track, my bad.