Psalms 137

1 By rivers of Babylon—There we sat, Indeed, we wept when we remembered Zion.

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

2 We hung our harps on willows in its midst.

There on the poplars we hung our harps.

3 For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers—joy: “Sing to us of a song of Zion.”

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

4 How do we sing the song of YHWH, On the land of a stranger?

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

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgets!

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

6 My tongue cleaves to my palate, If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt 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, YHWH, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, “Raze, raze 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 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the blessedness of him who repays to you your deed, That you have done to us.

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

9 O the blessedness of him who seizes, and has dashed your sucklings on the rock!

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