Psalm
Select chapter 137

Psalm 137

Psalm 137

1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
    as we thought of Jerusalem.[a]
2 We put away our harps,
    hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
3 For our captors demanded a song from us.
    Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn:
    “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”
4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a pagan land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
    if I fail to remember you,
    if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

7 O Lord, remember what the Edomites did
    on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem.
“Destroy it!” they yelled.
    “Level it to the ground!”
8 O Babylon, you will be destroyed.
    Happy is the one who pays you back
    for what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who takes your babies
    and smashes them against the rocks!

Footnotes

  1. 137:1 Hebrew Zion; also in 137:3.
Psalm 137