Psalms

The fifth book of Psalms, song 137, New English Translation and King James Version

Psalm 137

New English Translation

   1 By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion.
   2 On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps,
   3 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!"
   4 How can we sing a song to the LORD in a foreign land?
   5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled!
   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 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!"
   8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us!
   9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies and smashes them on a rock!

King James Version

   1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
   2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
   3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
   4 How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
   5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
   6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
   7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
   8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
   9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.