1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down;there we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows near bywe hung up our harps.
3 Those who captured us told us to sing;they told us to entertain them:“Sing us a song about Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song to the Lordin a foreign land?
5 May I never be able to play the harp againif I forget you, Jerusalem!
6 May I never be able to sing againif I do not remember you,if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites didthe day Jerusalem was captured.Remember how they kept saying,“Tear it down to the ground!”
8 Babylon, you will be destroyed.Happy are those who pay you backfor what you have done to us —
9 who take your babiesand smash them against a rock.