International Standard Version

1 There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion.

2 On the willows there we hung our harps,

3 for it was there that our captors asked us for songs and our torturers demanded joy from us, “Sing us one of the songs about Zion!”

4 How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil?

5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. ^a

6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t consider Jerusalem to be more important than my highest joy.

7 Remember the day of Jerusalem’s fall, ^b LORD, because of ^c the Edomites, who kept saying, “Tear it down! Tear it right down to its foundations!”

8 Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

9 How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff!