1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept 1 when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars 2 we hung our harps,
3 for there our captors asked us for songs, 3 our tormentors demanded songs of joy; 3 they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord 4 while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, 5 may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth 6 if I do not remember you, 6 if I do not consider Jerusalem 6 my highest joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did 7 on the day Jerusalem fell. 7 "Tear it down," they cried, 7 "tear it down to its foundations!"
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, 8 happy is he who repays you 8 for what you have done to us—
9 he who seizes your infants 9 and dashes them against the rocks.
