Psalms 137

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

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

2 There on the poplars we hung our harps.

There on the willows we hung our harps,

3 For there our captors called for a song: our tormentors, rejoicing, saying: ‘Sing us 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 How can we sing the Lord’s song in the foreigner’s land?

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

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

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

6 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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