1 By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion.
2 On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps,
3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: “Sing for us a song about Zion!”
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled!
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, “Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!”
8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us!
9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies and smashes them on a rock!