1
By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows1Or poplars there
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors
required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion! ”
4 s[Neh. 2:3] How shall we sing the Lord 's song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
t[Ps. 76:5] let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let myuJob 29:10; Ezek. 3:26 tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!
7 Remember, O Lord, against thevIsa. 34:5, 6; Lam. 4:21, 22; Ezek. 35:2; [Amos 1:11, 12]; See Jer. 49:7-22; Ezek. 25:12-14; Obad. 8-14 Edomites
wSee Job 18:20 the day of Jerusalem,
how they said,xHab. 3:13; Zeph. 2:14 “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
down to its foundations! ”
8 O daughter of Babylon,yIsa. 21:9; 47:1-15; Jer. 25:12; 50:1-46; 51:1-64; See Isa. 13:1-22 doomed to be destroyed,
blessed shall he be whozJer. 51:24, 56; [Ps. 28:4] repays you
with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
anda2 Kgs. 8:12; Isa. 13:16; Hos. 10:14; Nah. 3:10 dashes them against the rock!