Psalm 137

Common English Bible

Psalm 137

137 Alongside Babylon’s streams,
    there we sat down,
    crying because we remembered Zion.
²We hung our lyres up
    in the trees there
³    because that’s where our captors asked us to sing;
    our tormentors requested songs of joy:
    “Sing us a song about Zion!” they said.
⁴But how could we possibly sing
    the Lord’s song on foreign soil?

⁵Jerusalem! If I forget you,
    let my strong hand wither!
⁶Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
    if I don’t remember you,
    if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

⁷Lord, remember what the Edomites did
        on Jerusalem’s dark day:
    “Rip it down, rip it down!
    All the way to its foundations!” they yelled.
⁸Daughter Babylon, you destroyer,^[a]
    a blessing on the one who pays you back
    the very deed you did to us!
⁹    A blessing on the one who seizes your children
    and smashes them against the rock!