Psalm 137
New American Standard Bible 2020
Chapter overview
Psalm 137 preserves exiles' grief, cultural pressure, fierce memory, and unresolved anger beside Babylonian rivers. Silenced harps embody refusal to turn sacred song into entertainment while Jerusalem lies lost and unforgotten.
ExileZionGriefMemory
1By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.
2Upon the willows in the midst of it We hung our harps.
3For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors, jubilation, saying, “Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”
4¶How can we sing the Lord’s song 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 exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.
7¶Remember, Lord, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Those who said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare To its foundation!”
8Daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, Blessed will be one who repays you With the retribution with which you have repaid us.
9Blessed will be one who seizes and dashes your children Against the rock.
New American Standard Bible 2020 — Licensed through API.Bible, non-commercial use only, no derivatives. Where these translations come from.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org Text unchanged, provided through API.Bible.