Psalms 137

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

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

2 On the poplars there we hung our harps.

Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.

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 led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'

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

How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?

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

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

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.

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest 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, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; who said: 'Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.'

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

O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that repayeth thee as thou hast served us.

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

Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the rock.