Psalm 137-138

English Standard Version

How Shall We Sing the Lord's Song?

137 By the waters of Babylon,
    there we sat down and wept,
    when we remembered Zion.
²On the willows^[a] there
    we hung up our lyres.
³For there our captors
    required of us songs,
and our tormentors, mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴^(A)How shall we sing the Lord's song
    in a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    ^(B)let my right hand forget its skill!
⁶Let my ^(C)tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy!

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the ^(D)Edomites
    ^(E)the day of Jerusalem,
how they said, ^(F)“Lay it bare, lay it bare,
    down to its foundations!”
⁸O daughter of Babylon, ^(G)doomed to be destroyed,
    blessed shall he be who ^(H)repays you
    with what you have done to us!
⁹Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
    and ^(I)dashes them against the rock!

Give Thanks to the Lord

Of David.

138 ^(J)I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before ^(K)the gods I sing your praise;
²I bow down ^(L)toward your ^(M)holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.^[b]
³On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.^[c]

⁴^(N)All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
⁵and they shall sing of ^(O)the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶^(P)For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.

⁷^(Q)Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you ^(R)preserve my life;
you ^(S)stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your ^(T)right hand delivers me.
⁸The Lord will ^(U)fulfill his purpose for me;
    ^(V)your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake ^(W)the work of your hands.