Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

137 We sat by the rivers in Babylon
    and cried as we remembered Zion.
² We hung our harps nearby, there on the willow trees.^[a]
3 There in Babylon, those who captured us told us to sing.
    Our enemies told us to entertain them.
    They said, “Sing us one of your songs about Zion.”
⁴ But we cannot sing the Lord’s songs
    in a foreign country!
⁵ Jerusalem, if I ever forget you,
    may I never play a song again.
⁶ If I fail to remember you,
    may I never sing again.
I will always remember Jerusalem
    as my greatest joy!

⁷ Lord, be sure to punish the Edomites for what they did
    when Jerusalem was captured.
They shouted, “Destroy its buildings!
    Pull them down to the ground!”
⁸ Babylon, you will be destroyed!
    Bless the one who pays you back for what you did to us.
⁹ Bless the one who grabs your babies
    and smashes them against a rock.

¹⁶ “I cry about all these things.
    Tears are flowing down my cheeks.
There is no one near to comfort me.
    There is no one who can make me feel better.
My children are like a wasteland,
    because the enemy won.”

¹⁷ Zion spread out her hands.
    There was no one to comfort her.
The Lord had given orders to Jacob’s enemies.
    He ordered them to surround the city.
Jerusalem has become a dirty rag
    that her enemies threw away.

¹⁸ Now Jerusalem says, “I refused to listen to the Lord,
    so he is right for doing these things.
So listen, all you people!
    Look at my pain!
My young women and men
    have gone into captivity.
¹⁹ I called out to my lovers,
    but they tricked me.
My priests and my elders
    have died in the city.
They were looking for food for themselves.
    They wanted to keep themselves alive.

²⁰ “Look at me, Lord. I am in distress!
    I am upset, as if my heart turned upside down inside of me.
I feel this way because
    I have been so stubborn.
Out in the streets,
    I lost my children to the swords.
Inside, it is like death.

²¹ “Listen to me, I am groaning.
    I have no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble.
    They are happy that you did this to me.
You said there would be a time of punishment.
    You said you would punish my enemies.
Now do what you said.
    Let my enemies be like I am now.

²² “Look how evil my enemies are!
    Then you can treat them the same way you treated me
    because of all my sins.
Do this because I am groaning again and again.
    Do this because my heart is sick.”