By the Rivers of Babylon

(Ezekiel 1:1–3)

137 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the willows[fn] we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

4 How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!

7 Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem [fell]: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

9 Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.