Psalms 137:2-5 in English

² Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.

³ For there they that led us captive required of us songs, And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing Jehovah’s song In a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her skill.

² I will worship toward thy holy temple, and give thanks to thy name, on account of thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast magnified thy holy name above every thing.

³ In whatsoever day I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily; thou shalt abundantly provide me with thy power in my soul.

⁴ Let all the kings of the earth, O Lord, give thanks unto thee; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

⁵ And let them sing in the ways of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord.

² We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

³ For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

² We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

³ For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

² I will worship toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your name, on account of your mercy and your truth; for you have magnified your holy name above every thing.

³ In whatever day I shall call upon you, hear me speedily; you shall abundantly provide me with your power in my soul.

⁴ Let all the kings of the earth, o Lord, give thanks to you; for they have heard all the words of your mouth.

⁵ And let them sing in the ways of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord.

² Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.

³ For there they that led us captive required of us songs, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

² On the willow trees alongside the rivers we hung our harps because we did not want to play them anymore because we were very sad.

³ The soldiers who had captured us and taken us to Babylonia told us to sing for them; they told us to ◄entertain them/make them happy►, saying, “Sing for us one of the songs that you previously sang in Jerusalem!”

⁴ But we thought , “We are sad because we have been punished by Yahweh and brought to this foreign land, so we cannot RHQ sing songs about Yahweh while we are here!”

⁵ If I forget about Jerusalem APO, Iet my right hand wither with the result that I will be unable to play my harp

² I will worship towards your holy temple, and give thanks to your name, on account of your mercy and your truth; for you have magnified your holy name above every thing.

³ In whatever day I shall call upon you, hear me speedily; you shall abundantly provide me with your power in my soul.

⁴ Let all the kings of the earth, o Lord, give thanks to you; for they have heard all the words of your mouth.

⁵ And let them sing in the ways of the Lord; for great is the glory of the Lord.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² Hanging our instruments of music on the trees by the waterside.

³ For there those who had taken us prisoners made request for a song; and those who had taken away all we had gave us orders to be glad, saying, Give us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How may we give the Lord's song in a strange land?

⁵ If I keep not your memory, O Jerusalem, let not my right hand keep the memory of its art.

² We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

³ For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail required mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

⁵ If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill;

² I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.

³ In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shall multiply strength in my soul.

⁴ May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

⁵ And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

² We hung up our harps on the willow trees.

³ For those who had taken us captive asked us for a song—our tormentors wanted us to sing a happy song from Jerusalem.

⁴ But how could we sing a song dedicated to the Lord in a pagan land?

⁵ If I forget Jerusalem, may my right hand forget how to play;

² Wee hanged our harpes vpon the willowes in the middes thereof.

³ Then they that ledde vs captiues, required of vs songs and mirth, when wee had hanged vp our harpes, saying, Sing vs one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ Howe shall we sing, said we, a song of the Lord in a strange land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Ierusalem, let my right hand forget to play.

² Upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps.

³ For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song, and our tormentors asked of us mirth: 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'

⁴ How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

² We hanged our harps Upon the willows in the midst thereof.

³ For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; And they that wasted us required of us mirth, Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing the Lord’s song In a strange land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning.

² Upon the willows in her midst had we hung up our harps.

³ For there our captors demanded of us the words of song; and those that mocked us, joy, saying, Sing for us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How should we sing the song of the Lord on the soil of the stranger?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget—.

² I will worship toward thy holy temple, And give thanks to thy name, On account of thy mercy and thy truth; For thou hast magnified thy holy name above everything.

³ In whatsoever day I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily; Thou shalt abundantly provide me with thy power in my soul.

⁴ Let all the kings of the earth, O Lord, give thanks unto thee; For they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

⁵ And let them sing in the ways of the Lord; For great is the glory of the Lord.

² We hung our harps on the willows in the midst thereof.

³ For there they who carried us away captive required of us a song; They who wasted us required of us mirth: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How shall we sing the LORD'S song In a strange land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her cunning!

² There on the poplars we hung our harps.

³ For there our captors called for a song: our tormentors, rejoicing, saying: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

⁴ How can we sing the Lord's song in the foreigner's land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.

² There on the poplars we hung our harps.

³ For there our captors called for a song: our tormentors, rejoicing, saying: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

⁴ How can we sing the Lord's song in the foreigner's land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion Mountain ridge, Marking!”

⁴ How can we sing Adonai ’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem City of peace, let my right hand forget its skill.

² On the poplars there we hung our harps.

³ There our captors required songs from us, and those who mocked us required us to be happy, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

⁴ How could we sing a song about Yahweh in a foreign land?

⁵ If I ignore the memory of you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² We hung our harps upon the willows in the midst of it.

³ For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying , Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her skill .

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² On the willows in that land, we hung up our harps.

³ For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.

² In sallows in the midst thereof; we hanged up our organs.

³ For they that led us prisoners; asked us there the words of songs. And they that led away us said; Sing ye to us an hymn of the songs of Zion.

⁴ How shall we sing a song of the Lord; in an alien land?

⁵ If I forget thee, Jerusalem; my right hand be given to forgetting.

² In sallows in the midst thereof; we hanged up our organs. (On the willows nearby; we hung up our harps.)

³ For they that led us prisoners; asked us there the words of songs. And they that led away us said; Sing ye to us an hymn of the songs of Zion. (For they who led us away as prisoners; told us to sing there. Yea, they who led us away said; Sing ye for us a hymn of the songs of Zion.)

⁴ How shall we sing a song of the Lord; in an alien land? (But how can we sing a song to the Lord; in a foreign, or a strange, land?)

⁵ If I forget thee, Jerusalem; my right hand be given to forgetting. (Yea, if I forget thee, Jerusalem; may my right hand forget how to play my harp, or may my right hand wither away.)

² On willows in its midst we hung our harps.

³ For there our captors asked us the words of a song, And our spoilers — joy: 'Sing ye to us of a song of Zion.'

⁴ How do we sing the song of Jehovah, On the land of a stranger?

⁵ If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand forgetteth!