If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
Parallel translations
- WEB If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill.
- KJV If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
- NKJV If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!
- NASB If I forget you, Jerusalem, May my right hand forget its skill.
- NLT If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
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
The psalmist vows that if he forgets Jerusalem, may his right hand lose its skill.
Overview
With a solemn self-curse, the psalmist binds himself to remember the holy city no matter what. Jerusalem represented God's covenant presence and promises, never to be abandoned. This fierce loyalty models the devotion God's people owe to His kingdom, the heavenly city toward which Christ leads us.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Dan 6:10–11Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
- Jer 51:50You who have escaped the sword, depart and do not linger! Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to mind.”
- Ps 84:10For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
- Isa 62:1For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch.
- Zech 11:17Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
- Ps 122:5–9For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.
- Ps 102:13–14You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor—the appointed time has come.
- Ps 84:1–2For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
- Isa 62:6–7On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,
- Neh 1:2–4Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
- Neh 2:2–3so the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, though you are not ill? This could only be sadness of the heart.” I was overwhelmed with fear
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 137:5 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.