1. Babylon streams received our tears:
Zion, the holy city, gone.
Exiles, we cried beneath the trees.
Harps hung in silence many years.
2. Our captors laughed,
Perform your praise!
Merrily dance, Jerusalem!
How could we chant
the Lord God's songs
while we were crushed
by heathens' ways?
3. So help us, God, you may destroy
our working hands if we deny;
strike our mouths mute
if we neglect to make
your city our chief joy.
4. Remember, Lord, the awful day
violent Edom cursed your folk,
Babylon, break Jerusalem!
Raze to the ground, strip her away!
5. God give you evil for reward.
Blessed be the one who brings your fall.
Babylon great—your seed be smashed!
Vengeance shall come
from God our Lord.