Psalm 137
Legacy Standard Bible
We Wept When We Remembered Zion
137 By the (A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat and also (B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a](C)willows in the midst of it
We (D)hung our lyres.
3 For there our captors (E)asked us about the words of a song,
And (F)our tormentors asked joyfully, saying,
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song of (G)Yahweh
In a foreign land?
5 If I (H)forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand [b]forget her skill.
6 May my (I)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [c](J)exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Yahweh, against the sons of (K)Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Tear it down! Tear it down
(L)To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you (M)devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who (N)repays you
With [d]the recompense with which you have recompensed us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and (O)dashes your infants
Against the cliff.
Footnotes
- Psalm 137:2 Or poplars
- Psalm 137:5 Become lame
- Psalm 137:6 Lit cause to ascend
- Psalm 137:8 Lit your
Psalm 137
American Standard Version
Sorrows of the exiles in Babylon.
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the willows in the midst thereof
We hanged up our harps.
3 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.
4 How shall we sing Jehovah’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her skill.
6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
If I remember thee not;
If I prefer not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom
The day of Jerusalem;
Who said, Rase it, rase it,
Even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, [c]that art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee
As thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
Against the rock.
Footnotes
- Psalm 137:3 Hebrew words of song.
- Psalm 137:3 Or, our tormentors
- Psalm 137:8 Or, that art laid waste
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