Psalm 137Lament of the Exiles

1. By the rivers of Babylon--
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.

2. There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,

3. for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion."

4. How can we sing the Lord's song
on foreign soil?

5. If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.

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!

7. Remember, Lord, what the Edomites said
that day at Jerusalem:
"Destroy it! Destroy it
down to its foundations!"

8. Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who pays you back
what you have done to us.

9. Happy is he who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rocks.




