Psalms 137

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

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

2 Upon the willows in her midst had we hung up our harps.

There on the poplars we hung our harps.

3 For there our captors demanded of us the words of song; and those that mocked us, joy, [saying, ] Sing for 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 the song of the Lord on the soil of the stranger?

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

5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget—.

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

6 May my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember thee: if I recall not Jerusalem at the head of my 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 Lord, unto the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to her very 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 O daughter of Babylon, who art wasted: happy he, that repayeth thee thy recompense for what thou hast done to us.

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

9 Happy he, that seizeth and dasheth thy babes against the rock.

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