Psalms 137:1
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Study Guide
Psalms 137
Overview
A lament of Babylonian exiles who hung their harps on willows, unable to sing the Lord's song in a foreign land. Those who demand songs of Zion receive the mournful question 'How shall we sing?' The psalm ends controversially with a blessing on those who dashes Babylon's infants against rocks.
Key Verses
Psalms 137:3
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psalms 137:5
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Psalms 137:7
Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
Psalms 137:8
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Full Text
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.