Psalm 137 NIV ISV Parallel

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◄ Psalm 137 ►

New International Version

International Standard Version

1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

1There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion.

2There on the poplars we hung our harps,

2On the willows there 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!"

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 can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?

4How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil?

5If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.

5If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

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.

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, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"

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!"

8Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.

8Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

9Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

9How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff!