Psalm 137

Lament of the Exiles

1   By the rivers of Babylon—

there we sat down and wept

when we remembered Zion. k

2   There we hung up our lyres

on the poplar trees, l

3   for our captors there asked us for songs,

and our tormentors, for rejoicing:

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” m

4   How can we sing the LORD’S song

on foreign soil? n

5   If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget its skill. o

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! p

7   Remember, LORD, what the Edomites said

that day M at Jerusalem:

“Destroy it! Destroy it

down to its foundations! ” q

8   Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy is the one who pays you back

what you have done to us. r

9   Happy is he who takes your little ones

and dashes them against the rocks. s