Lament of the Exiles
1 By the rivers of Babylon —
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion. 137:1 Ezk 1:1,3
2 There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees, 137:2 Jb 30:31; Ezk 26:13
3 for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion." 137:3 Ps 80:6
4 How can we sing the Lord’s song
on foreign soil? 137:4 Neh 12:46
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill. 137:5 Is 65:11
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy! 137:6 Jb 29:10; Ps 22:15; Ezk 3:26
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites said
that day 137:7 The day Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC at Jerusalem:
"Destroy it! Destroy it
down to its foundations! " 137:7 Is 34:5–6; Ezk 35:2; Ob 10–14
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who pays you back
what you have done to us. 137:8 Jr 50:1–46; 51:1–64
9 Happy is he who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rocks. 137:9 2Kg 8:12; Is 13:16; Nah 3:10