Psalm 137

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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By the rivers of Babylon

¹Beside the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; we wept as we thought of Zion. ²On the poplar trees there we hung up our lyres. ³For there the people who had taken us captive demanded songs from us; those who tormented us wanted us to be cheerful: “Sing for us a song from Zion!” ⁴How could we sing the LORD’s song in a land of strangers? ⁵Jerusalem, if I ever forget you, may my right hand forget how to play. ⁶May my tongue stay stuck to the roof of my mouth should I fail to remember you, should I fail to prize Jerusalem above my chief delight. ⁷LORD, hold the day of Jerusalem’s fall against the Edomites, who shouted, “Strip it, strip it bare, right down to its foundations!” ⁸Daughter Babylon, soon to be laid waste, how blessed is the one who pays you back in full for all you did to us! ⁹How blessed is the one who grabs your little children and smashes them on the rock!