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Lament During the Babylonian Exile

137 By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat, yes, we wept,
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows[a] in her midst,
we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors asked of us
words of a song,
and our tormentors[b] asked of us jubilation,
“Sing for us from a song of Zion.”

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 137:2 Species of tree uncertain
  2. Psalm 137:3 Only occurring once in the MT, this interpretation is uncertain. The LXX’s “carried us captive” is a guess. If related to the Hebrew root yll it might have the idea of “mockers/yammerers”

Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon(A) we sat and wept(B)
    when we remembered Zion.(C)
There on the poplars(D)
    we hung our harps,(E)
for there our captors(F) asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded(G) songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(H)

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