1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִינוּ בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת־צִיּֽוֹן׃
2 There on the willows we hung our harps,
עַֽל־עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ׃
3 for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”
כִּי שָׁם שְֽׁאֵלוּנוּ שׁוֹבֵינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁיר וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה שִׁירוּ לָנוּ מִשִּׁיר צִיּֽוֹן׃
4 How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?
אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת־שִׁיר־יְהוָה עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָֽר׃
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
אִֽם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְֽרוּשָׁלִָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִֽי׃
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!
תִּדְבַּק־לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי אִם־לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי אִם־לֹא אַעֲלֶה אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִֽי׃
7 Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
זְכֹר יְהוָה לִבְנֵי אֱדוֹם אֵת יוֹם יְֽרוּשָׁלִָם הָאֹמְרִים עָרוּ עָרוּ עַד הַיְסוֹד בָּֽהּ׃
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
בַּת־בָּבֶל הַשְּׁדוּדָה אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם־לָךְ אֶת־גְּמוּלֵךְ שֶׁגָּמַלְתְּ לָֽנוּ׃
9 Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיֹּאחֵז וְנִפֵּץ אֶֽת־עֹלָלַיִךְ אֶל־הַסָּֽלַע׃
English: The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain; World English Bible and King James Version, public domain. Original text: STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), license CC BY 4.0 — Hebrew from the Leningrad Codex and Greek from the Textus Receptus.