Psalm 137

English Standard Version

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

137 By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
²On the willows^[a] there
    we hung up our lyres.
³For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴^(A)How shall we sing the Lord's song
    in a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    ^(B)let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶Let my ^(C)tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the ^(D)Edomites
    ^(E)the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, ^(F)“Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
⁸O daughter of Babylon, ^(G)doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who ^(H)repays you
    with what you have done to us!
⁹Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and ^(I)dashes them against the rock!

Footnotes

Psalm 137:2 Or poplars

Matthew 5:38-48

English Standard Version

Retaliation

³⁸^(A)“You have heard that it was said, ^(B)‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹But I say to you, ^(C)Do not resist the one who is evil. But ^(D)if anyone ^(E)slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And ^(F)if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,^[a] let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹And if anyone ^(G)forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²^(H)Give to the one who begs from you, and ^(I)do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Love Your Enemies

⁴³^(J)“You have heard that it was said, ^(K)‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, ^(L)Love your enemies and ^(M)pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵^(N)so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and ^(O)sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶^(P)For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers,^[b] what more are you doing than others? Do not even ^(Q)the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸^(R)You therefore must be ^(S)perfect, ^(T)as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Footnotes

Matthew 5:40 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin
Matthew 5:47 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters