Psalms 137

1 A Psalm of David: to Jeremiah. Above the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, while we remembered Zion.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we thought about Zion.

2 By the willow trees, in their midst, we hung up our instruments.

On the poplars there we hung our harps.

3 For, in that place, those who led us into captivity questioned us about the words of the songs. And those who carried us away said: “Sing us a hymn from the songs of Zion.”

There our captors required songs from us, and those who mocked us required us to be happy, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

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

How could we sing a song about Yahweh in a foreign land?

5 If I ever forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.

If I ignore the memory of you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.

6 May my tongue adhere to my jaws, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem first, as the beginning of my joy.

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I think about you no more, if I do not prefer Jerusalem more than my greatest delights.

7 O Lord, call to mind the sons of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, who say: “Despoil it, despoil it, even to its foundation.”

Call to mind, Yahweh, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations.”

8 O daughter of Babylon, have pity. Blessed is he who will repay you with your payment, which you have paid to us.

Daughter of Babylon, soon to be destroyed— may the person be blessed, whoever pays you back for what you have done to us.

9 Blessed is he who will take hold of your little ones and dash them against the rock.

May the person be blessed, whoever takes and dashes your little ones against a rock.