1 Alongside Babylon’s streams,there we sat down,crying because we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our lyres upin the trees there
3 because that’s where our captors asked us to sing;our tormentors requested songs of joy:"Sing us a song about Zion!" they said.
4 But how could we possibly singthe Lord’s song on foreign soil?
5 Jerusalem! If I forget you,let my strong hand wither!
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouthif I don’t remember you,if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
7 Lord, remember what the Edomites didon Jerusalem’s dark day:"Rip it down, rip it down!All the way to its foundations!" they yelled.
8 Daughter Babylon, you destroyer,a blessing on the one who pays you backthe very deed you did to us!
9 A blessing on the one who seizes your childrenand smashes them against the rock!