137:1 By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep 2
when we remember Zion.
137:2 On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; 3
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: 4
“Sing for us a song about Zion!” 5
137:4 How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled! 6
137:6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy. 7
137:7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell. 8
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, 9
right to its very foundation!”
137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! 10
How blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us! 11