Psalm 137 ISV NLT Parallel

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◄ Psalm 137 ►

International Standard Version

New Living Translation

1There we sat down and cried— by the rivers of Babylon— as we remembered Zion.

1Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.

2On the willows there we hung our harps,

2We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.

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!"

3For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”

4How are we to sing the song of the LORD on foreign soil?

4But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?

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

5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.

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.

6May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

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!"

7O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!”

8Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

8O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

9How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff!

9Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!