Psalm 137137PsalmsBook 5unfoldingWord® Simplified Text

unfoldingWord® Simplified TextBerean Standard Bible

1. By the Rivers of Babylon

   (Ezekiel 1:1–3)

2. 1UST{ After soldiers had taken us to} Babylon, we sat down by the rivers there, and we cried when we thought about{ the temple on Mount} Zion{ in Jerusalem}.BSBBSB: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
3. 2USTWe hung our harps on the willow trees there{ and did not play them}.BSBBSB: There on the willows we hung our harps,
4. 3USTWe did that because those who had captured us{ and taken us} there demanded that we sing for them. They tormented us and told us to sing a joyful song.{ They said,}“Sing for us one of the songs about Zion!”BSBBSB: for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”
5. 4UST{ We thought},“We are not able to sing{ joyful} songs about Yahweh in this foreign land!”BSBBSB: How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?
6. 5USTIf I ever forget about Jerusalem, may my right hand be unable{ to play the harp}!BSBBSB: If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
7. 6USTMay my tongue and my mouth make me unable to sing if I forget about Jerusalem, or{ even} if I do not consider that Jerusalem causes me to be more joyful than anything else does.BSBBSB: May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
8. 7USTYahweh, please punish the Edomites for what they did when the enemy destroyed Jerusalem. They shouted,“Completely tear it down to its foundations!”BSBBSB: Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
9. 8USTConcerning the people of Babylon, who devastate{ other nations}, How good it will be for the person who completely pays them back with what they did to us!BSBBSB: O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
10. 9USTHow good it will be for the one who seizes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!BSBBSB: Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

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