Psalm 137:1
New International Version
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

New Living Translation
Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.

Berean Standard Bible
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

King James Bible
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

New King James Version
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.

New American Standard Bible
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.

NASB 1995
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.

NASB 1977
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion.

Legacy Standard Bible
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat and also wept, When we remembered Zion.

Amplified Bible
By the rivers of Babylon, There we [captives] sat down and wept, When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].

Christian Standard Bible
By the rivers of Babylon — there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.

American Standard Version
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
By the rivers of Babel, there we sat and we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For David, a Psalm of Jeremias. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat; and wept when we remembered Sion.

Contemporary English Version
Beside the rivers of Babylon we thought about Jerusalem, and we sat down and cried.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:

English Revised Version
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and cried as we remembered Zion.

Good News Translation
By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion.

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

JPS Tanakh 1917
By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept, When we remembered Zion.

Literal Standard Version
By rivers of Babylon—There we sat, | Indeed, we wept when we remembered Zion.

Majority Standard Bible
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

New American Bible
By the rivers of Babylon there we sat weeping when we remembered Zion.

NET Bible
By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion.

New Revised Standard Version
By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.

New Heart English Bible
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Webster's Bible Translation
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

World English Bible
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

Young's Literal Translation
By rivers of Babylon -- There we did sit, Yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
By the Rivers of Babylon
1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2There on the willows we hung our harps,…

Cross References
Nehemiah 1:4
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

Ezekiel 1:1
In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the River Kebar, the heavens opened and I saw visions of God.

Ezekiel 1:3
the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD's hand was upon him.


Treasury of Scripture

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

A.

the rivers

Genesis 2:10-14
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads…

Ezra 8:21,31
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance…

Ezekiel 1:1
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

there sat

Nehemiah 1:3,4
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire…

Nehemiah 2:3
And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?

Job 2:12,13
And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven…

we wept

Psalm 42:4
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.

Psalm 102:9-14
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, …

Isaiah 66:10
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:

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Psalm 137
1. The constancy of the Jews in captivity
7. The prophet curses Edom and Babel














(1) By the rivers . . .--Mentioned as the characteristic feature of the country, as we say "among the mountains of Wales." The canals which irrigated Babylonia made it what an ancient writer called it, the greatest of "cities of river places."

Verse 1. - By the rivers of Babylon The Euphrates and the canals derived from it, which were many, and filled with running, not stagnant, water. These would present themselves to the exiles as "rivers." There we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. The exiles had their leisure hours - they were not kept by their masters at hard work continually. During these leisure hours they naturally "sat down" by the rivers of Babylon, as the most pleasant and attractive places. They brought their harps with them (ver. 2), with some idea, perhaps, of indulging in mournful strains. Grief, however, overpowered them - Zion came to their recollection-and they could do nothing but weep.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
By
עַ֥ל (‘al)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the rivers
נַהֲר֨וֹת ׀ (na·hă·rō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 5104: A stream, prosperity

of Babylon
בָּבֶ֗ל (bā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city

we sat
יָ֭שַׁבְנוּ (yā·šaḇ·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

and
גַּם־ (gam-)
Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

wept
בָּכִ֑ינוּ (bā·ḵî·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common plural
Strong's 1058: To weep, to bemoan

when we remembered
בְּ֝זָכְרֵ֗נוּ (bə·zā·ḵə·rê·nū)
Preposition-b | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | first person common plural
Strong's 2142: To mark, to remember, to mention, to be male

Zion.
צִיּֽוֹן׃ (ṣî·yō·wn)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6726: Zion -- a mountain in Jerusalem, also a name for Jerusalem


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OT Poetry: Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon there we (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 136:26
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