1 When we sat down by the rivers of Babylon we wept as we remembered Zion. 2 We hung up our harps on the willow trees. 3 For those who had taken us captive asked us for a song—our tormentors wanted us to sing a happy song from Jerusalem. 4 But how could we sing a song dedicated to the Lord in a pagan land? 5 If I forget Jerusalem, may my right hand forget how to play; 6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you—if I don't consider Jerusalem my greatest joy. 7 Lord, please remember what the people of Edom did on the day Jerusalem fell, the ones who said “Tear it down! Destroy it down to its foundations!” 8 Daughter of Babylon, you will be destroyed! Happy is the one who pays you back, who does to you what you did to us! 9 Happy is the one who grabs your children and smashes them against the rocks!
Psalm 137 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
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.
- 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).
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)