An Experience of the Captivity.
1 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
1 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.
We hung our harps.
3 For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing the LORD’S song
In a foreign land?
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget her skill.
May my right hand forget her skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
Against the rock.