1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept

when we remembered Zion.

2There on the poplars

we hung our harps,

3for there our captors asked us for songs,

our tormentors demanded songs of joy;

they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4How can we sing the songs of the Lord

while in a foreign land?

5If I forget you, Jerusalem,

may my right hand forget its skill.

6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

if I do not remember you,

if I do not consider Jerusalem

my highest joy.

7Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did

on the day Jerusalem fell.

“Tear it down,” they cried,

“tear it down to its foundations!”

8Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,

happy is the one who repays you

according to what you have done to us.

9Happy is the one who seizes your infants

and dashes them against the rocks.