1. By the rivers of Babylon we sat and weptwhen we remembered Zion.
2. There on the poplarswe hung our harps,
3. for there our captors asked us for songs,our tormentors demanded songs of joy;they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’
4. How can we sing the songs of the Lordwhile in a foreign land?
5. If I forget you, Jerusalem,may my right hand forget its skill.
6. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouthif I do not remember you,if I do not consider Jerusalemmy highest joy.
7. Remember, Lord, what the Edomites didon the day Jerusalem fell.‘Tear it down,’ they cried,‘tear it down to its foundations!’
8. Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,happy is the one who repays youaccording to what you have done to us.
9. Happy is the one who seizes your infantsand dashes them against the rocks.