Psalms 137

1 By rivers of Babylon — There we did sit, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

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

2 On willows in its midst we hung our harps.

On the poplars there we hung our harps.

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

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.”

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

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

5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!

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

6 My tongue doth cleave to my palate, If I do not remember thee, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.

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.

7 Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, 'Rase, rase to its foundation!'

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

8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.

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

9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!

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