Psalms 137

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

For David, [a Psalm] of Jeremias. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat; and wept when we remembered Sion.

2 There on the willows we hung our harps,

We hung our harps on the willows in the midst of it.

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

For there they that had taken us captive asked of us the words of a song; and they that had carried us away [asked] a hymn, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Sion.

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

How should we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

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

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill].

6 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!

May my tongue cleave to my throat, if I do not remember thee; if I do not prefer Jerusalem as the chief of my joy.

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

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it], even to its foundations.

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

Wretched daughter of Babylon! blessed [shall he be] who shall reward thee as thou hast rewarded us.

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

Blessed [shall he be] who shall seize and dash thine infants against the rock.