Psalms 137
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 586 BC – 538 BC · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
9 verses · 146 words · ~1 min read · ~1 min listen
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,
3for there our captors requested a song;
our tormentors demanded songs of joy:
“Sing us a song of Zion.”
4How can we sing a song of the Lord
in a foreign land?
5If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand cease to function.
6May 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!
7Remember, O Lord,
“Destroy it,” they said,
“tear it down to its foundations!”
8O Daughter of Babylon,
doomed to destruction,
blessed is he who repays you
as you have done to us.
9Blessed is he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
Footnotes (1)
- a v2 Or poplars
Study notes on this chapter · 1
BackgroundWidely held reading
By the rivers of Babylon
An exile psalm of grief and anger: singers hang up their harps, refuse songs for their captors, and remember Zion. Its closing cry for vengeance troubles modern readers; ancient Near Eastern war laments commonly voiced such imprecations, and the psalm preserves raw exile emotion rather than prescribing it.
When: Babylonian exile, 6th century BC.
Original passagePsalms 137:1–4
Echoed inRevelation 18:20 — Heaven rejoicing over fallen Babylon.
Ways people read this (2)
- Some read the ending as honest lament left unanswered.
- Others see it as handing justice to God rather than taking it.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.