Psalm 137

Good News Translation

A Lament of Israelites in Exile

137 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down;
    there we wept when we remembered Zion.
²On the willows near by
    we hung up our harps.
³Those who captured us told us to sing;
    they told us to entertain them:
    “Sing us a song about Zion.”

⁴How can we sing a song to the Lord
    in a foreign land?
⁵May I never be able to play the harp again
    if I forget you, Jerusalem!
⁶May I never be able to sing again
    if I do not remember you,
    if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!

⁷Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
the day Jerusalem was captured.
Remember how they kept saying,
“Tear it down to the ground!”

⁸^(A)Babylon, you will be destroyed.
Happy are those who pay you back
    for what you have done to us—
⁹    who take your babies
    and smash them against a rock.