Oh Jerusalem
Lauryn Hill
Letra

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Realizing that there's no place else to go and there's nobody I know who can help me
Textbook solutions are so improbable 'cause everybody else is just as empty
Naked as the day that I was born, I try to hide behind education and philosophy
Hopeless explanation, to describe a situation
I can't see because the world's on top of me
Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death
Freeing me from dust and the superficial trust of an enemy that seeks to take my breath
Failing to connect 'cause I'm morally defect by reason of the god inside my head, causing me to see only what pertains to me, believing I'm alive when I'm still dead
Limited to earth, unable to find out my worth 'cause I can't see past my own vanity
If I'm not included then I just have to remove it from my mind because it has to be insanity

Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death
Can I even factor that I've only been an actor in the staged interpretation of this day
Focused on the shadow with my back turned to the light, too intelligent to see it's me in the way
What a paradox, having God trapped in a box
All this time professing to be spiritual, naturally pretending that I'm actually defending God, thru my façade, only material

Oh Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved from thy deception
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee
Oh Jerusalem, keeping thee from perfection
Submit to truth, leave the deception of thy youth so we can walk in the council of authority
Forget the proof, a generation so aloof, only following the steps of the majority
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding
In all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths
Be not wise in thine own eyes or

You can't follow Him
We judge and condemn, just as ignorant as them who religion tells us that we should ignore
Perpetrating, we're in covenant with Him, exposed by the very things that we adore
We grin and shake hands then lay ambush for the man who has a different point of view than us
Infuriated 'cause he doesn't understand, bringing up those things we don't want to discuss
Wise to do evil, we don't know how to do good
Walking on in darkness, running from the light
Led to believe because we live in neighborhoods, telling us what's going on will be alright

Oh so repressed, so convinced that I was blessed when I played with my game of monopoly
Oh to suggest, that my life is still a mess would reveal the pride I'm hiding is what's stopping me
Oh Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved from thy deception
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee, Oh Jerusalem, keeping them from perfection
Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except in the vine
I am the vine, ye are the branches
He that live in me, and I in Him the same bring forth much fruit
For without me you can do nothing, Oh Jerusalem
Your traditions have deceived you
I've chosen you, you haven't chosen me
That whatsoever you ask in my name He may give to you
But in vain they call my name, teaching doctrines just the same, justified amongst themselves
But God knoweth the heart
What man esteems as smart is an abomination to Emmanuel
Just repent, turn from selfish motivation so iniquity will not cause your demise
Make you a new heart and a new spirit for why will ye die?
Oh Jerusalem, please tell me why?
I have no pleasure in the death of Him that dieth, says the Lord God wherefore turn yourselves and live
It's not the talkers, but the walkers in His word
Are the only ones the Father will forgive
Oh Jerusalem, wash thine heart from from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved from thy deception
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee, Oh Jerusalem
Providing you no protection
Oh Jerusalem, oh, ya, oh, Jerusalem oh, ya, oh