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
Evangelical Heritage Version
Psalm 137
Beside the Rivers of Babylon
Sorrow for Jerusalem
1 Beside the rivers[a] of Babylon,
there we sat, and, yes, we wept as we remembered Zion.
2 There we hung up our lyres on the willows,
3 because there our captors asked us for words of a song,
and our tormentors asked for a happy song:
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”
Zeal for Zion
4 How can we sing a song of the Lord on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget how to play music.[b]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my highest joy.
Zeal for God’s Vengeance
7 Remember the day of Jerusalem, O Lord,
against the descendants of Edom[c] who said,
“Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
how blessed is the one who repays you
with the same deeds you did against us.
9 How blessed is the one who seizes your children
and dashes them against the cliff.
Footnotes
- Psalm 137:1 Many of the rivers were in fact canals running off the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
- Psalm 137:5 The words how to play music are supplied to clarify the point of reference.
- Psalm 137:7 This wording recalls the hostility between Jacob (called Israel) and Esau (called Edom).
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