Psalms 137

1 When we sat down by the rivers of Babylon we wept as we remembered Zion.

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

2 We hung up our harps on the willow trees.

There on the poplars we hung our harps.

3 For those who had taken us captive asked us for a song—our tormentors wanted us to sing a happy song from Jerusalem.

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

4 But how could we sing a song dedicated to the Lord in a pagan land?

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

5 If I forget Jerusalem, may my right hand forget how to play;

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

6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you—if I don't consider Jerusalem my greatest 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 Lord, please remember what the people of Edom did on the day Jerusalem fell, the ones who said “Tear it down! Destroy it down to its foundations!”

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, you will be destroyed! Happy is the one who pays you back, who does to you what you did to us!

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

9 Happy is the one who grabs your children and smashes them against the rocks!

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