1. By the rivers of Babylon we sat down;there we wept when we remembered Zion.
2. On the willows near bywe hung up our harps.
3. Those who captured us told us to sing;they told us to entertain them:“Sing us a song about Zion.”
4. How can we sing a song to the Lordin a foreign land?
5. May I never be able to play the harp againif I forget you, Jerusalem!
6. May I never be able to sing againif I do not remember you,if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!
7. Remember, Lord, what the Edomites didthe day Jerusalem was captured.Remember how they kept saying,“Tear it down to the ground!”
8. Babylon, you will be destroyed.Happy are those who pay you backfor what you have done to us —
9. who take your babiesand smash them against a rock.