Psalms 137
1 When we [had been taken to] Babylonia, [far from Jerusalem], we sat down by the rivers there, and we cried when we thought about [the temple on] Zion [Hill in Jerusalem].
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, and we also wept when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willow trees [alongside the rivers] we hung our harps [because we did not want to play them any more because we were very sad].
Upon the willows in her midst had we hung up our harps.
3 The [soldiers] who had captured us [and taken us to Babylonia] told us to sing [for them]; they told us to (entertain them/make them happy), saying, “Sing for us one of the songs [that you previously sang in] Jerusalem!”
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.
4 But [we thought], “We [are sad because we have been punished by Yahweh and brought to this] foreign land, so we cannot [RHQ] sing songs about Yahweh while we are here!”
How should we sing the song of the Lord on the soil of the stranger?
5 If I forget about Jerusalem [APO], Iet my right hand wither [with the result that I will be unable to play my harp]
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget—.
6 Do not allow me to sing again [MTY], if I forget about Jerusalem, if I do not consider that Jerusalem causes me to be more joyful than anything else does.
May my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember thee: if I recall not Jerusalem at the head of my joy.
7 Yahweh, [punish] the people of the Edom people-group for what they did on the day that the army of Babylon captured Jerusalem. Do not forget that they said, “Tear down all the buildings! Destroy them completely! Leave only the foundations!”
Remember, O Lord, unto the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to her very foundation.
8 And you people of Babylon, you will certainly be destroyed! Those who punish you in return for what you did to us will be happy;
O daughter of Babylon, who art wasted: happy he, that repayeth thee thy recompense for what thou hast done to us.
9 they will take your babies and completely smash them on the rocks.
Happy he, that seizeth and dasheth thy babes against the rock.
