Psalms
Chapter 137
This psalm is sung by people from Jerusalem who were taken away as prisoners to Babylon. They sit by the rivers there and weep, and they refuse to sing their songs for the men who captured them. The singer swears never to forget Jerusalem, then asks God to remember Edom, who cheered when the city fell, and calls for Babylon to be paid back for what it did.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
1We sat down beside the rivers of Babylon. We cried there when we remembered Zion, our home.
Zion is another name for Jerusalem, the city these singers came from.
2We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
2We hung up our harps on the willow trees that grew along the water.
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.
3The men who took us away wanted us to sing. The men who ruined us asked for happy songs. They said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
4How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?
4How can we sing the LORD's song here, in a land that is not our own?
5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
5Jerusalem, if I ever forget you, may my right hand forget how to play.
The KJV says "forget her cunning." Here "cunning" means skill, not trickery: the hand's skill at playing the harp.
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.
6If I do not remember you, may my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth. May it happen if I do not love Jerusalem more than my greatest joy.
7Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
7LORD, remember what the people of Edom did on the day Jerusalem fell. They shouted, "Tear it down! Tear it down, all the way to the ground!"
8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
8Babylon, you are going to be destroyed. The one who pays you back for what you did to us will be glad.
9Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
9The one who grabs your babies and smashes them against the rocks will be glad.
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