Psalms 137 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

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

On the willow trees there, we hung up our lyres.

Because there, our captors demanded songs from us, our tormentors demanded joy: "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

How could we possibly sing Yahweh's song in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don't remember you, if I don't place Jerusalem above my highest joy.

Remember, Yahweh, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down!" they shouted. "Tear it down to its foundations!"

Daughter Babylon, you devastator — life will be good for the one who pays you back for what you did to us.

Life will be good for the one who seizes your children and shatters them against the rocks.