Psalms 137

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

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars we hung our harps.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

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

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail [required] mirth, [saying, ] Sing us [one] of the songs of Zion.

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

How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

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

If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill];

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.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to my palate: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief 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 Jehovah, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem; who said, Lay [it] bare, Lay [it] bare, down to its foundation!

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

Daughter of Babylon, who art to be laid waste, happy he that rendereth unto thee that which thou hast meted out to us.

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

Happy he that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.