Blessed are You, Adonoy,

our God, King of the universe,

Who sanctified us with His commandments

and commanded us

to kindle the light of Chanukah.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

our God, King of the universe,

Who performed miracles for our fathers

in those days at this time.

Blessed are You, Adonoy,

our God, King of the universe,

Who has kept us alive and sustained us

and brought us to this time.

We kindle these lights

because of the miracles and the wonders,

the deliverances and the battles

which You performed for our fathers

in those days at this time

through Your holy priests.

All eight days of Chanukah

these lights are sacred,

And we are not permitted to make use of them,

but only to look at them,

in order to offer thanks and praise

to Your great Name

for Your miracles, for Your deliverance,

and for Your wonders.

Maoz Tzur

Stronghold, Rock of my deliverance,

it is fitting to offer praise to You.

You will establish the House of my prayer¹

footnotes: ¹ The Holy Temple.

and there we will offer thanksgiving offerings.

When You prepare total destruction

against the raging foe,

I will then complete, with song and psalm,

the dedication of the Altar.

My soul was sated with troubles,

my strength consumed with sorrow;

they made my life bitter with hardship,

enslaved by the kingdom of the heifer [Egypt].²

footnotes: ² In Jeremiah 46:20, Egypt is likened to a young, beautiful heifer.

With His great hand,

He brought forth the treasured [people],

[while] Pharaoh’s army and all his seed,

sank like a stone into the deep.

He brought me to His Holy of Holies

but even there, I found no rest;

the oppressor came and exiled me,³

footnotes: ³ The king of Babylon exiled us to Babylon.

because I had served alien gods

and I prepared poisoned wine.⁴

footnotes: ⁴ The Jews were dazed and intoxicated with the wine of the pagans, which was poison for them.

I had hardly gone away

[when] the Babylonian exile ended

[It came through] Zerubabel;⁵

footnotes: ⁵ Zerubabel was at the head of the returned exiles. Encouraged by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, he completed the rebuilding of the second Temple.

after seventy years, I was delivered.

To cut down the lofty cypress⁶

footnotes: ⁶ Mordechai.

was the intention of the Aggagite,

son of Hamedasa;⁷

footnotes: ⁷ This is a reference to Hainan's plan to destroy Mordechai by hanging.

it became [however] his own trap and snare,⁸

footnotes: ⁸ Haman was ultimately hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordechai.

and his arrogance was put to rest.

You raised the head of the Binjaminite⁹

footnotes: ⁹ Mordechai was of the tribe of Benjamin.

and You blotted out the name of the foe,

his numerous sons and wealth;

You hanged upon the gallows.

The Greeks gathered against me

in the days of the Hasmoneans;

and broke down the walls of my towers,

and defiled all the [sacred] oils.

And from the last of the remaining flasks,

a miracle was performed for the Shoshanim¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ The term שושנים, roses, is used in Scripture in reference to the Jewish People.

Men of insight [then] designated eight days

for song and joyful psalms.

Uncover Your holy arm

and bring near the day of deliverance;

Avenge the blood of Your servants

from the wicked people.

For long have we waited for the deliverance,

and there is no end to the evil days.

Cast the “red one”¹¹ into the dark shadows¹²

footnotes: ¹¹ Esau. ¹² We ask God to destroy Esau, the arch-enemy of the Jewish People. Esau is referred to as “the red one” in Genesis 25:25.

and raise for us the seven shepherds.¹³

footnotes: ¹³ See Michah 5:4.