1 Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion: 2 On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. 3 For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion. 4 How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land? 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. 6 Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy. 7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. 8 O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us. 9 Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.
Psalms · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Psalm 136 (137) Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · Psalm 137 · About the recordings
Notes on this text (2)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Psalms follow the Greek/Latin numbering.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
Places
Babylon
Capital of Nebuchadnezzar's empire on the Euphrates. It destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC and carried Judah into exile, where Daniel and the people kept their faith.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 25:1; Daniel 1:1; Psalm 137:1
Cross references (9)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info. References use English (Hebrew-based) verse numbers; links open the passage in DRB.
- 1 Ezekiel 1:1; Ezekiel 3:15; Lamentations 2:10–11; Lamentations 3:48; Lamentations 2:18
- 2 Ezekiel 26:13; Isaiah 24:8; Revelation 18:22; Psalm 81:2; Amos 8:10
- 3 Luke 21:6; Psalm 9:14; Lamentations 2:15–16; Micah 3:12; Jeremiah 9:11
- 4 Amos 8:3; Isaiah 22:12; Hosea 9:4; Lamentations 5:14–15; Ecclesiastes 3:4
- 5 Daniel 6:10–11; Jeremiah 51:50; Psalm 122:5–9; Psalm 84:10; Zechariah 11:17
- 6 Ezekiel 3:26; Psalm 22:15; Job 29:10; Isaiah 41:17; Psalm 84:10
- 7 Lamentations 4:21–22; Ezekiel 25:12–14; Jeremiah 49:7–22; Obadiah 10–14; Habakkuk 3:13
- 8 Revelation 18:6; Jeremiah 25:12–14; Isaiah 14:4–24; Revelation 14:8–11; Isaiah 21:1
- 9 Isaiah 13:16; Hosea 13:16; Nahum 3:10; 2 Kings 8:12; Hosea 10:14
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations). Verse numbers below follow the Hebrew/English numbering: 137.
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
(ver. 1). This Psalm contains the praise of God, and all its verses finish in the same way. Wherefore although many things are related here in praise of God, yet His mercy is most commended; for without this plain commendation, he, whom the Holy Spirit used to utter this Psalm, would have no verse be ended.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
And here again: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down; yea wept.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)