| King James Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. | 1There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion. |
| 2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. | 2On the willows there we hung our harps, |
| 3For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. | 3for it was there that our captors asked us for songs and our torturers demanded joy from us, "Sing us one of the songs about Zion!" |
| 4How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? | 4How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil? |
| 5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. | 5If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. |
| 6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. | 6May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you, if I don't consider Jerusalem to be more important than my highest joy. |
| 7Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. | 7Remember the day of Jerusalem's fall, LORD, because of the Edomites, who kept saying, "Tear it down! Tear it right down to its foundations!" |
| 8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. | 8Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. |
| 9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. | 9How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff! |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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