Psalm 137:1–6

By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there

we hung up our lyres.

For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget its skill!

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

There on the poplars

we hung our harps,

for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

How can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget its skill.

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

if I do not remember you,

if I do not consider Jerusalem

my highest joy.

By the rivers of Babylon—

there we sat down and wept

when we remembered Zion.

There we hung up our lyres

on the poplar trees,

for our captors there asked us for songs,

and our tormentors, for rejoicing:

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

How can we sing the Lord’s song

on foreign soil?

If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget its skill.

May 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!

Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept

as we thought of Jerusalem.

We put away our harps,

hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.

For our captors demanded a song from us.

Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn:

“Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”

But how can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a pagan land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget how to play the harp.

May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth

if I fail to remember you,

if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

By the rivers of Babylon,

there we sat, yes, we wept,

when we remembered Zion.

On the willows in her midst,

we hung up our lyres.

For there our captors asked of us

words of a song,

and our tormentors asked of us jubilation,

“Sing for us from a song of Zion.”

How could we sing the song of Yahweh

in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget.

Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if do not I exalt Jerusalem

above my highest joy.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,

When we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps

Upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song;

And they that wasted us required of us mirth,

Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord’s song

In a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee,

Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;

If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.