An Experience of the Captivity.

1
By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.

2
Upon the willows in the midst of it
We hung our harps.

3
For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, {saying,}
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4
How can we sing the LORD’S song
In a foreign land?

5
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand forget {her skill.}

6
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.

7
Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.

8
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

9
How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.