Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the willows we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”

4 How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.

6 May 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!

7 Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

9 Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

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Chapter summary

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

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By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows we hanged our harps, for our captors required of us songs: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' 'How shall we sing Jehovah's song in a foreign land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.' Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem. The psalm ends with the exile's rawest cry against Babylon, the imprecation held in the canon unedited, grief given words before God.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Poetry · David, Asaph, Sons of Korah, others — Psalms overview

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Ezekiel 32 verses
- Ezekiel 3:15I came to the exiles at Tel-abib who dwelt by the River Kebar. And for seven days I sat where they sat and remained there among them, overwhelmed.
- Ezekiel 3:26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.
- Read Ezekiel 3 →
Revelation 182 verses
- Revelation 18:6Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.
- Revelation 18:22And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.
- Read Revelation 18 →
Ezekiel 11 verse
- Ezekiel 1:1In 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.
- Read Ezekiel 1 →
Lamentations 31 verse
- Lamentations 3:48Streams of tears flow from my eyes over the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- Read Lamentations 3 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Ezekiel 261 verse
- Ezekiel 26:13So I will silence the sound of your songs, and the music of your lyres will no longer be heard.
- Read Ezekiel 26 →
Isaiah 241 verse
- Isaiah 24:8The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.
- Read Isaiah 24 →
Luke 211 verse
- Luke 21:6“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
- Read Luke 21 →
Micah 31 verse
- Micah 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
- Read Micah 3 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.