New International Version NIV
New Revised Standard NRS
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
1
By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.
2 There on the poplars we hung our harps,
2
On the willows there we hung up our harps.
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!”
3
For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for 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?
4
How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
5
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
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.
6
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.
7 Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”
7
Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!"
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.
8
O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us!
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
9
Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!