1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who aplundered us requested 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 you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget itsskill!
6 If I do not remember you, Let my atongue cling to the roof of my mouth— If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, against athe sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said,1 “Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, awho are to be destroyed, Happy the one bwho repays you as you have served us!
The Jews just bawled their eyes out. Their cherished city was gone. There was not even a hope of going back to what they remembered. The buildings were gone. The land was desolate. Who knows what kind of scorched earth policy Nebuchadnezzar used? The beauty of the land had been raped, and when they thought about Zion, the Temple, that beautiful city on a hill, they just sat down and sobbed.
