Psalms 137

1 By the riuers of Babel we sate, and there wee wept, when we remembred Zion.

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

2 Wee hanged our harpes vpon the willowes in the middes thereof.

There on the willows we hung our harps,

3 Then they that ledde vs captiues, required of vs songs and mirth, when wee had hanged vp our harpes, saying, Sing vs one of the songs of Zion.

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

4 Howe shall we sing, said we, a song of the Lord in a strange land?

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

5 If I forget thee, O Ierusalem, let my right hand forget to play.

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

6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleaue to the roofe of my mouth: yea, if I preferre not Ierusalem to my chiefe ioy.

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!

7 Remember the children of Edom, O Lord, in the day of Ierusalem, which saide, Rase it, rase it to the foundation thereof.

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

8 O daughter of Babel, worthy to be destroyed, blessed shall he be that rewardeth thee, as thou hast serued vs.

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

9 Blessed shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy children against the stones.

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