עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם בָּכִינוּ בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת צִיּוֹן

The speakers are the exiles who arrived in Babylon. They say: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept, when we remembered Zion and our exile from there to a foreign land.

עַל עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵינוּ

On the willows in its midst, in Babylon’s midst, we hung our lyres. The people lamenting were sitting by rivers, where willows often grow. Hanging the lyres on the willows was a way of saying that the exiles did not want to use them, because they were no longer willing, or able, to sing.

כִּי שָׁם שְׁאֵלוּנוּ שׁוֹבֵינוּ דִּבְרֵי שִׁיר וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה שִׁירוּ לָנוּ מִשִּׁיר צִיּוֹן

For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors, mirth. The captors asked their captives to play for them, in some instances because of their curiosity to hear different types of melodies and, in other cases, as a way of tormenting them. They said: Sing to us of the songs of Zion. There were many kinds of songs sung in Jerusalem, but the term “Zion” refers specifically to the Temple Mount. The captors were thus asking the captives to sing the songs that had been sung in the Temple.

אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת שִׁיר ה'עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָר

The captives respond: How can we sing the song of the Lord, the Temple, on foreign soil?

אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָםִ תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי

The exiles then speak about the memory of Jerusalem: If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand, my stronger hand, lose its power.

תִּדְבַּק לְשׁוֹנִי לְחִכִּי אִם לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי אִם לֹא אַעֲלֶה אֶת יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִי

Let my tongue cleave to my palate, so that I will be unable to speak, if I do not recall you. If I do not recall the memory of Jerusalem, if I do not set Jerusalem above my foremost joy, it would be best for me not to speak at all. Even at the height of personal joy I will never forget Jerusalem and the humiliation it suffered.

זְכֹר ה' לִבְנֵי אֱדוֹם אֵת יוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם הָאֹמְרִים עָרוּ עָרוּ עַד הַיְסוֹד בָּהּ

Besides remembering the destruction of Jerusalem, we will also never forget the war and our enemies. Remember, Lord, the day of the destruction and downfall of Jerusalem, for the sons of Edom, who joined forces with the other enemies of Israel and who said: Tear it down, tear it down, to its very foundation. They called not only for the conquest of Jerusalem, but also for its total destruction.

בַּת בָּבֶל הַשְּׁדוּדָה אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם לָךְ אֶת גְּמוּלֵךְ שֶׁגָּמַלְתָּ לָנוּ

Thieving daughter of Babylon, happy is he who pays you back for what you did to us, and does to you what you have done to us.

אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיֹּאחֵז וְנִפֵּץ אֶת עֹלָלַיִךְ אֶל הַסָּלַע

Happy is he who will seize and dash your infants against the rock. The psalmist does not say that he, personally, would like to carry out vengeance, but rather wishes that someone else would do so.