Psa 136 | CPDV | STEP | A Psalm of David: to Jeremiah. Above the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, while we remembered Zion.

Psalms 136

Super flumina.

The lamentation of the people of God in their captivity in Babylon.

1 A Psalm of David: to Jeremiah.
Above the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, while we remembered Zion. ^{▼▼136:1 For Jeremias: For the time of Jeremias, and the captivity of Babylon.(Challoner)}
2 By the willow trees, in their midst, we hung up our instruments.
3 For, in that place, those who led us into captivity questioned us about the words of the songs.
And those who carried us away said:
“Sing us a hymn from the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?
5 If I ever forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.
6 May my tongue adhere to my jaws, if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem first, as the beginning of my joy.
7 O Lord, call to mind the sons of Edom,
in the day of Jerusalem, who say:
“Despoil it, despoil it, even to its foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, have pity. Blessed is he who will repay you with your payment, which you have paid to us. ^{▼▼136:8This first part can be read as: ‘O daughter of Babylon, have pity,’ or as: ‘O pitiable (miserable) daughter of Babylon.’(Conte)}
9 Blessed is he who will take hold of your little ones and dash them against the rock. ^{▼▼136:9 Dash thy little ones, etc: In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock which is Christ.(Challoner)}