New International Version NIV
King James Version KJV
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
1
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
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We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
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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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.
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
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How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
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If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
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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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.
7 Remember, 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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Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.
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O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
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Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The King James Version is in the public domain.