Psalms 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

By the waters of Babylon there we sat, and we wept at the thought of Zion.

2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

There on the poplars we hung our harps.

3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail [required] mirth, [saying, ] Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.

For there our captors called for a song: our tormentors, rejoicing, saying: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’

4 How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

How can we sing the Lord’s song in the foreigner’s land?

5 If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill];

If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.

6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to my palate: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I am unmindful of you, or don’t set Jerusalem above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O Jehovah, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, Lay [it] bare, Lay [it] bare, down to its foundation!

Remember the Edomites, Lord, the day of Jerusalem’s fall, when they said, ‘Lay her bare, lay her bare, right down to her very foundation.’

8 Daughter of Babylon, who art to be laid waste, happy he that rendereth unto thee that which thou hast meted out to us.

Babylon, despoiler, happy are those who pay you back for all you have done to us.

9 Happy he that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.

Happy are they who seize and dash your children against the rocks.