Psalm 137–138

PSALM 137

An Experience of the Captivity.

¹By the ^arivers of Babylon,

There we sat down and ^bwept,

When we remembered Zion.

²Upon the ^1awillows in the midst of it

We ^bhung our ²harps.

³For there our captors ^1ademanded of us ²songs,

And ^bour tormentors mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

⁴How can we sing ^athe Lord’s song

In a foreign land?

⁵If I ^aforget you, O Jerusalem,

May my right hand ¹forget her skill.

⁶May my ^atongue cling to the roof of my mouth

If I do not remember you,

If I do not ^1bexalt Jerusalem

Above my chief joy.

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the sons of ^aEdom

The day of Jerusalem,

Who said, “Raze it, raze it

^bTo its very foundation.”

⁸O daughter of Babylon, you ^1adevastated one,

How blessed will be the one who ^brepays you

With ²the recompense with which you have repaid us.

⁹How blessed will be the one who seizes and ^adashes your little ones

Against the rock.

PSALM 138

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

^1aI will give You thanks with all my heart;

I will sing praises to You before the ^bgods.

²I will bow down ^atoward Your holy temple

And ^bgive thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your ¹truth;

For You have ^cmagnified Your ²word ³according to all Your name.

³On the day I ^acalled, You answered me;

You made me bold with ^bstrength in my soul.

^4aAll the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,

When they have heard the words of Your mouth.

⁵And they will ^asing of the ways of the Lord,

For ^bgreat is the glory of the Lord.

⁶For ^athough the Lord is exalted,

Yet He ^bregards the lowly,

But the ^chaughty He knows from afar.

⁷Though I ^awalk in the midst of trouble, You will ^1brevive me;

You will ^cstretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will ^dsave me.

⁸The Lord will ^aaccomplish what concerns me;

Your ^blovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;

^cDo not forsake the ^dworks of Your hands.