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      <div class="chapter ch137" data-usfm="PSA.137">
         <div class="label">137</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Psalm 137</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft"><span class="heading">sn Psalm 137. The Babylonian exiles lament their condition, vow to remain loyal to Jerusalem, and appeal to God for revenge on their enemies.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.137.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content"> By the rivers of Babylon</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.137.1"><span class="content">we sit down and weep</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;there we sit down, also we weep.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="PSA.137.1"><span class="content">when we remember Zion.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.137.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content"> On the poplars in her midst</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="PSA.137.2"><span class="content">we hang our harps,</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.137.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content"> for there our captors ask us to compose songs;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;ask us [for] the words of a song.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.137.3"><span class="content">those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;our [?] joy.&#8221; The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase &#1514;&#1493;&#1465;&#1500;&#1464;&#1500;&#1461;&#1497;&#1504;&#1493;&#1468; (tolalenu, &#8220;our [?]&#8221;) are uncertain. A derivation from &#1514;&#1468;&#1464;&#1500;&#1463;&#1500; (talal, &#8220;to mock&#8221;) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="PSA.137.3"><span class="content">&#8220;Sing for us a song about Zion!&#8221;</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;from a song of Zion.&#8221; Most modern translations read, &#8220;one of the songs of Zion,&#8221; taking the preposition &#1502;&#1460;&#1503; (min, &#8220;from&#8221;) as partitive and &#8220;song&#8221; as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (&#1501;) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.137.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content"> How can we sing a song to the </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="PSA.137.4"><span class="content">in a foreign land?</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.137.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content"> If I forget you, O Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="PSA.137.5"><span class="content">may my right hand be crippled!</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;may my right hand forget.&#8221; In this case one must supply an object, such as &#8220;how to move.&#8221; The elliptical nature of the text has prompted emendations (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 236). The translation assumes an emendation to &#1514;&#1468;&#1460;&#1499;&#1456;&#1513;&#1473;&#1463;&#1495; (tikhshakh), from an otherwise unattested root &#1499;&#1513;&#1473;&#1495;, meaning &#8220;to be crippled; to be lame.&#8221; See HALOT 502 s.v. &#1499;&#1513;&#1473;&#1495;, which cites Arabic cognate evidence in support of the proposal. The corruption of the MT can be explained as an error of transposition facilitated by the use of &#1513;&#1473;&#1464;&#1499;&#1463;&#1495; (shakhakh, &#8220;forget&#8221;) just before this.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.137.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content"> May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.137.6"><span class="content">if I do not remember you,</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.137.6"><span class="content">and do not give Jerusalem priority</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="PSA.137.6"><span class="content">over whatever gives me the most joy.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.137.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content"> Remember, O </span><span class="sc"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, what the Edomites did</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.137.7"><span class="content">on the day Jerusalem fell.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom, the day of Jerusalem.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.137.7"><span class="content">They said, &#8220;Tear it down, tear it down,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;lay [it] bare, lay [it] bare.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="PSA.137.7"><span class="content">right to its very foundation!&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.137.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content"> O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated!</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;O devastated daughter of Babylon.&#8221; The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon&#8217;s demise.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.137.8"><span class="content">How blessed will be the one who repays you</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="PSA.137.8"><span class="content">for what you dished out to us!</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">tn Heb &#8220;O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.&#8221;</span></span></span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.137.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content"> How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="PSA.137.9"><span class="content">and smashes them on a rock!</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="ft">sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.</span></span></span></span></div>
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By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep
when we remember Zion.
On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
for there our captors ask us to compose songs;
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:
“Sing for us a song about Zion!”
How can we sing a song to the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled!
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.
Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down,
right to its very foundation!”
O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated!
How blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us!
How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them on a rock!

සවන් දෙන්න Psalms 137