| English Standard Version | International Standard Version |
| 1By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. | 1There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion. |
| 2On the willows there we hung up our lyres. | 2On the willows there we hung our harps, |
| 3For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” | 3for it was there that our captors asked us for songs and our torturers demanded joy from us, "Sing us one of the songs about Zion!" |
| 4How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? | 4How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil? |
| 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! | 5If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function. |
| 6Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy! | 6May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you, if I don't consider Jerusalem to be more important than my highest joy. |
| 7Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem, how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare, down to its foundations!” | 7Remember the day of Jerusalem's fall, LORD, because of the Edomites, who kept saying, "Tear it down! Tear it right down to its foundations!" |
| 8O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! | 8Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. |
| 9Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! | 9How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff! |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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