The Book of Psalms

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

There on the willows

(a)

we hung our harps,

for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

(a)137:2 Or poplars

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Remember, LORD, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”

Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.

Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.