The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Alongside Babylon's rivers we sat on the banks; we cried and cried, remembering the good old days in Zion.
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By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 Alongside the quaking aspens we stacked our unplayed harps;
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On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
3 That's where our captors demanded songs, sarcastic and mocking: "Sing us a happy Zion song!"
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For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 Oh, how could we ever sing God's song in this wasteland?
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How shall we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land?
5 If I ever forget you, Jerusalem, let my fingers wither and fall off like leaves.
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If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
6 Let my tongue swell and turn black if I fail to remember you, If I fail, O dear Jerusalem, to honor you as my greatest.
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Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
7 God, remember those Edomites, and remember the ruin of Jerusalem, That day they yelled out, "Wreck it, smash it to bits!"
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Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, "Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!"
8 And you, Babylonians - ravagers! A reward to whoever gets back at you for all you've done to us;
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O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
9 Yes, a reward to the one who grabs your babies and smashes their heads on the rocks!
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Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.