Psalms 137

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