Psalms 137
137
1We sat by the rivers in Babylon
and cried as we remembered Zion.
2We hung our harps nearby, there on the willow trees.#137:2 These instruments were used to praise God in the Temple in Jerusalem. Since it was destroyed, the people had no reason to play the songs.
3There 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.”
4But we cannot sing the Lord’s songs
in a foreign country!
5Jerusalem, if I ever forget you,
may I never play a song again.
6If I fail to remember you,
may I never sing again.
I will always remember Jerusalem
as my greatest joy!
7Lord, 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!”
8Babylon, you will be destroyed!
Bless the one who pays you back for what you did to us.
9Bless the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them against a rock.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Psalm 137
137
How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?
1By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2On the willows#137:2 Or poplars there
we hung up our lyres.
3For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 # [Neh. 2:3] How shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
5If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
# [Ps. 76:5] let my right hand forget its skill!
6Let my #Job 29:10; Ezek. 3:26tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
7Remember, O Lord, against the #Isa. 34:5, 6; Lam. 4:21, 22; Ezek. 35:2; [Amos 1:11, 12]; See Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad. 8-14 Edomites
# See Job 18:20 the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, #Hab. 3:13; Zeph. 2:14“Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations!”
8O daughter of Babylon, #Isa. 21:9; 47:1-15; Jer. 25:12; 50:1-46; 51:1-64; See Isa. 13:1-22 doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be who #Jer. 51:24, 56; [Ps. 28:4]repays you
with what you have done to us!
9Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
and #2 Kgs. 8:12; Isa. 13:16; Hos. 10:14; Nah. 3:10dashes them against the rock!
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