Psalm
Select chapter 137

Psalm 137

An Experience of the Captivity.

1By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a]willows in the midst of it
We hung our [b]harps.
3 For there our captors [c]demanded of us [d]songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

4 How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand [e]forget her skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [f]exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

7 Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you [g]devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With [h]the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 137:2 Or poplars
  2. Psalm 137:2 Lit lyres
  3. Psalm 137:3 Lit asked
  4. Psalm 137:3 Lit words of song
  5. Psalm 137:5 I.e. become lame
  6. Psalm 137:6 Lit cause to ascend
  7. Psalm 137:8 Or devastator
  8. Psalm 137:8 Lit your recompense
Psalm 137