Psalms 137

By the rivers of Babylon

Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. ²We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. ³For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” ⁴But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?

⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. ⁶May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy. ⁷O Lord, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!”a ⁸O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.b

⁹Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!c