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Psalm 137
International Standard Version
Psalm 137
International Standard Version
Remembering Jerusalem
137 There we sat down and cried—
by the rivers of Babylon—
as we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung our harps,
3 for it was there that our captors
asked us for songs
and our torturers demanded joy from us,
“Sing us one of the songs about Zion!”
4 How are we to sing the song of the Lord
on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand cease to function.[a]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I don’t remember you,
if I don’t consider Jerusalem
to be more important than my highest joy.
7 Remember the day of Jerusalem’s fall,[b] Lord,
because of[c] the Edomites,
who kept saying, “Tear it down!
Tear it right down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter of Babylon! You devastator!
How blessed will be the one who pays you back
for what you have done to us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children
and pulverizes them against the cliff!
Footnotes
- Psalm 137:5 Lit. remember
- Psalm 137:7 The Heb. lacks fall
- Psalm 137:7 Lit. against
Psalm 137
New International Version
Psalm 137
New International Version
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon(A) we sat and wept(B)
when we remembered Zion.(C)
2 There on the poplars(D)
we hung our harps,(E)
3 for there our captors(F) asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded(G) songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(H)
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord(I)
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you,(J) Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof(K) of my mouth
if I do not remember(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem(M)
my highest joy.
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites(N) did
on the day Jerusalem fell.(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,(Q)
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them(R) against the rocks.
International Standard Version (ISV) 
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.