Psalms 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we 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 the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.

On the poplars there we hung our harps.

3 For there they that led us captive required of us songs, and they that wasted us [required of us] mirth, [saying], Sing 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 shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

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

5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget [her cunning].

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

6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I prefer not 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, O LORD, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

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, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served 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 shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.

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