Psalm 137

Refrain:    O pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

1    By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept,  

when we remembered Zion.

2    As for our lyres, we hung them up  

on the willows that grow in that land.

3    For there our captors asked for a song,

our tormentors called for mirth:  

‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’ [R]

4    How shall we sing the Lord’s song  

in a strange land?

5    If I forget you, O Jerusalem,  

let my right hand forget its skill.

6    Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth

if I do not remember you,  

if I set not Jerusalem above my highest joy. [R]

7    Remember, O Lord, against the people of Edom

the day of Jerusalem,  

how they said, ‘Down with it, down with it,

even to the ground.’

8    O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,  

happy the one who repays you

for all you have done to us;

9    Who takes your little ones,  

and dashes them against the rock.

Refrain:    O pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

God of our pilgrimage,

you sent your Son to our strange land

to bring us home to you;

give us your songs to sing,

that even in our exile

we may be filled with the breath of the Spirit

of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Common Worship: Daily Prayer, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2005 and published by Church House Publishing.

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