Psalm 137

An Experience of the Captivity.

¹By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down and wept,

When we remembered Zion.

²Upon the willows in the midst of it[#137:2 Or poplars]

We hung our harps.

³For there our captors demanded of us songs,[#137:3 Lit asked; #137:3 Lit words of song]

And our tormentors, jubilation, saying,

“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴¶How can we sing the Lord ’s song

In a foreign land?

⁵If I forget you, Jerusalem,

May my right hand forget its skill.

⁶May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

If I do not remember you,

If I do not exalt Jerusalem

Above my chief joy.

⁷¶Remember, Lord , against the sons of Edom

The day of Jerusalem,

Those who said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare

To its foundation!”

⁸Daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,[#137:8 Or devastator]

Blessed will be one who repays you

With the retribution with which you have repaid us.

⁹Blessed will be one who seizes and dashes your children

Against the rock.