Aa
Psalm 137
Lament of the Exiles
1By the rivers of Babylon —
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.137:1 Ezk 1:1,3
2There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,137:2 Jb 30:31; Ezk 26:13
3for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”137:3 Ps 80:6

4How can we sing the Lord’s song
on foreign soil?137:4 Neh 12:46
5If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.137:5 Is 65:11
6May 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!137:6 Jb 29:10; Ps 22:15; Ezk 3:26

7Remember, Lord, what the Edomites said
that day137:7 The day Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC at Jerusalem:
“Destroy it! Destroy it
down to its foundations!” 137:7 Is 34:5–6; Ezk 35:2; Ob 10–14
8Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who pays you back
what you have done to us.137:8 Jr 50:1–46; 51:1–64
9Happy is he who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rocks.137:9 2Kg 8:12; Is 13:16; Nah 3:10