1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows in her midst, we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors asked of us words of a song, and our tormentors asked of us jubilation, “Sing for us from a song of Zion.”
4 How could we sing the song of Yahweh in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget.
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if do not I exalt Jerusalem above my highest joy.
7 Remember, O Yahweh, against the sons of Edom the day of Jerusalem, the ones who said, “Lay it bare! Lay it bare to its foundation!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, about to be devastated, happy shall be he who pays back to you what you paid out to us.
9 Happy shall be he who seizes and smashes your children against the rock.