King James Version KJV
New Living Translation NLT
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
1
Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
2
We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
3
For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”
4 How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
4
But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
5
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
6
May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
7
O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
8
O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
9
Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.