By the Rivers of Babylon

(Ezekiel 1:1–3)

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.