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