Psalms 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we thought about Zion.

For David, [a Psalm] of Jeremias. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat; and wept when we remembered Sion.

2 On the poplars there we hung our harps.

We hung our harps on the willows in the midst of it.

3 There our captors required songs from us, and those who mocked us required us to be happy, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

For there they that had taken us captive asked of us the words of a song; and they that had carried us away [asked] a hymn, [saying], Sing us [one] of the songs of Sion.

4 How could we sing a song about Yahweh in a foreign land?

How should we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

5 If I ignore the memory of you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [its skill].

6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I think about you no more, if I do not prefer Jerusalem more than my greatest delights.

May my tongue cleave to my throat, if I do not remember you; if I do not prefer Jerusalem as the chief of my joy.

7 Call to mind, Yahweh, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations.”

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase [it], rase [it], even to its foundations.

8 Daughter of Babylon, soon to be destroyed— may the person be blessed, whoever pays you back for what you have done to us.

Wretched daughter of Babylon! blessed [shall he be] who shall reward you as you have rewarded us.

9 May the person be blessed, whoever takes and dashes your little ones against a rock.

Blessed [shall he be] who shall seize and dash your infants against the rock.