The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 By the rivers of Babylon we were seated, weeping at the memory of Zion,
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By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 Hanging our instruments of music on the trees by the waterside.
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On the willows near by we hung up our harps.
3 For there those who had taken us prisoners made request for a song; and those who had taken away all we had gave us orders to be glad, saying, Give us one of the songs of Zion.
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Those who captured us told us to sing; they told us to entertain them: "Sing us a song about Zion."
4 How may we give the Lord's song in a strange land?
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How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?
5 If I keep not your memory, O Jerusalem, let not my right hand keep the memory of its art.
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May I never be able to play the harp again if I forget you, Jerusalem!
6 If I let you go out of my thoughts, and if I do not put Jerusalem before my greatest joy, let my tongue be fixed to the roof of my mouth.
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May I never be able to sing again if I do not remember you, if I do not think of you as my greatest joy!
7 O Lord, keep in mind against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem; how they said, Let it be uncovered, uncovered even to its base.
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Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!"
8 O daughter of Babylon, whose fate is destruction; happy is the man who does to you what you have done to us.
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Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us -
9 Happy is the man who takes your little ones, crushing them against the rocks.
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who take your babies and smash them against a rock.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.