1 By rivers of Babylon -- There we did sit, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 On willows in its midst we hung our harps.
3 For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers -- joy: `Sing ye to us of a song of Zion.'
4 How do we sing the song of Jehovah, On the land of a stranger?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!
6 My tongue doth cleave to my palate, If I do not remember thee, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, Jehovah, for the sons of Edom, The day of Jerusalem, Those saying, `Rase, rase to its foundation!'
8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.
9 O the happiness of him who doth seize, And hath dashed thy sucklings on the rock!
Chapter Summary
Exiles weep by Babylon's rivers, unable to sing the LORD's song in a foreign land, remembering Jerusalem.
Book Summary
Psalms is the Bible's songbook: one hundred fifty prayers and hymns of praise, lament, thanksgiving, and trust, many attributed to David. From the depths of despair to the heights of worship, it has voiced the prayers of God's people for millennia.