New Revised Standard NRS
Common English Bible CEB
1 By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.
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Alongside Babylon's streams, there we sat down, crying because we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there we hung up our harps.
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We hung our lyres up in the trees there
3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
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because that's where our captors asked us to sing; our tormentors requested songs of joy: "Sing us a song about Zion!" they said.
4 How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
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But how could we possibly sing the LORD's song on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!
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Jerusalem! If I forget you, let my strong hand wither!
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.
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Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you, if I don't make Jerusalem my greatest joy.
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!"
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LORD, remember what the Edomites did on Jerusalem's dark day: "Rip it down, rip it down! All the way to its foundations!" they yelled.
8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us!
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Daughter Babylon, you destroyer, a blessing on the one who pays you back the very deed you did to us!
9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!
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A blessing on the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock!