Psalms 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, and we also wept when we remembered Zion.

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

2 Upon the willows in her midst had we hung up our harps.

On the poplars there we hung our harps.

3 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.

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 should we sing the song of the Lord on the soil of the stranger?

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

5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget—.

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

6 May my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember thee: if I recall not Jerusalem at the head of my 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, O Lord, unto the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to her very 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, who art wasted: happy he, that repayeth thee thy recompense for what 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 Happy he, that seizeth and dasheth thy babes against the rock.

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