| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. | 1By the rivers of Babylon we sit down and weep when we remember Zion. |
| 2We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. | 2On the poplars in her midst we hang our harps, |
| 3For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” | 3for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: "Sing for us a song about Zion!" |
| 4But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land? | 4How can we sing a song to the LORD in a foreign land? |
| 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. | 5If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand be crippled! |
| 6May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy. | 6May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, and do not give Jerusalem priority over whatever gives me the most joy. |
| 7O LORD, remember what the Edomites did on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem. “Destroy it!” they yelled. “Level it to the ground!” | 7Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. They said, "Tear it down, tear it down, right to its very foundation!" |
| 8O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. | 8O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us! |
| 9Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks! | 9How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies and smashes them on a rock! |
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