Where Do I Find You?

¹ Alongside Babylon’s streams, there we sat down, crying because we remembered Zion. ² We hung our lyres up in the trees there ³ because that’s where our captors asked us to sing; our tormentors requested songs of joy: “Sing us a song about Zion!” they said. ⁴ But how could we possibly sing the LORD’s song on foreign soil? ⁵ Jerusalem! If I forget you, let my strong hand wither! ⁶ Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy. ⁷ LORD, remember what the Edomites did on Jerusalem’s dark day: “Rip it down, rip it down! All the way to its foundations!” they yelled. ⁸ Daughter Babylon, you destroyer, a blessing on the one who pays you back the very deed you did to us! ⁹ A blessing on the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock!

¹ Oh, no! She sits alone, the city that was once full of people. Once great among nations, she has become like a widow. Once a queen over provinces, she has become a slave. ² She weeps bitterly in the night, her tears on her cheek. None of her lovers comfort her. All her friends lied to her; they have become her enemies. ³ Judah was exiled after suffering and hard service. She lives among the nations; she finds no rest. All who were chasing her caught her—right in the middle of her distress. ⁴ Zion’s roads are in mourning; no one comes to the festivals. All her gates are deserted. Her priests are groaning, her young women grieving. She is bitter. ⁵ Her adversaries have become rulers; her enemies relax. Certainly the LORD caused her grief because of her many wrong acts. Her children have gone away, captive before the enemy. ⁶ Daughter Zion lost all her glory. Her officials are like deer that can’t find pasture. They have gone away, frail, before the hunter.