| New International Version | King James Bible |
| 1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. | 1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. |
| 2There on the poplars we hung our harps, | 2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. |
| 3for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" | 3For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. |
| 4How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? | 4How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? |
| 5If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. | 5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. |
| 6May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy. | 6If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. |
| 7Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" | 7Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. |
| 8Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. | 8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. |
| 9Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks. | 9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. |
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