for there our captors requested a song; our tormentors demanded songs of joy: “Sing us a song of Zion.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs. Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
- KJV For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
- NKJV For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
- NASB For there our captors demanded of us songs, And our tormentors, jubilation, saying, “Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”
- NLT For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Their captors mockingly demanded that they sing songs of Zion for entertainment.
Overview
The Babylonians tormented the exiles by asking them to perform the very songs of their lost homeland. What was sacred worship became a cruel demand for amusement. The taunt deepened their grief, yet it also reveals that the songs of Zion belong to God alone and cannot be reduced to entertainment for His enemies.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Luke 21:6“As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
- Ps 9:14that I may declare all Your praises—that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.
- Mic 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
- Lam 2:15–16All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
- Jer 26:18“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
- Ps 80:6You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.
- Neh 4:2before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”
- Ps 65:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song. Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion; to You our vows will be fulfilled.
- Isa 35:10So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
- Rev 14:1–3Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
- Ps 123:3–4Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
- 1 Chr 16:7On that day David first committed to Asaph and his brothers this song of thanksgiving to the LORD:
- Jer 31:12–13They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.
- Ps 79:1A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Jer 9:11“And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
- Isa 51:11So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
- 1 Chr 15:27Now David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, as well as the singers and Chenaniah, the director of music for the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 137:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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