| Common English Bible (CEB) |
New International Version (NIV) |
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1 Alongside Babylon's streams, there we sat down, crying because we remembered Zion.
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1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
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2 We hung our lyres up in the trees there
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2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
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3 because that's where our captors asked us to sing; our tormentors requested songs of joy: "Sing us a song about Zion!" they said.
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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!"
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4 But how could we possibly sing the LORD's song on foreign soil?
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4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
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5 Jerusalem! If I forget you, let my strong hand wither!
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5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget [its skill].
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6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you, if I don't make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
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6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
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7 LORD, remember what the Edomites did on Jerusalem's dark day: "Rip it down, rip it down! All the way to its foundations!" they yelled.
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7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!"
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8 Daughter Babylon, you destroyer, a blessing on the one who pays you back the very deed you did to us!
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8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us--
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9 A blessing on the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock!
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9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
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| Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible (Common English Bible) |
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |
