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Israelites in Captivity

137 By the rivers in Babylon we sat and ·cried [wept; C during the Babylonian exile]
    when we remembered ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple].
On the ·poplar [or willow] trees nearby
    we hung our harps.
·Those who captured us [Our captors] asked us to sing;
    our ·enemies [oppressors] wanted happy songs.
They said, “Sing us a song about ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]!”

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Sorrows of the exiles in Babylon.

137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.
Upon the willows in the midst thereof
We hanged up our harps.
For there they that led us captive required of us [a]songs,
And [b]they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 137:3 Hebrew words of song.
  2. Psalm 137:3 Or, our tormentors

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

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

Read full chapter