Psalm 137:8
New International Version
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us.

New Living Translation
O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

English Standard Version
O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!

Berean Standard Bible
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

King James Bible
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

New King James Version
O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, Happy the one who repays you as you have served us!

New American Standard Bible
Daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, Blessed will be one who repays you With the retribution with which you have repaid us.

NASB 1995
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

NASB 1977
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have repaid us.

Legacy Standard Bible
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, How blessed will be the one who repays you With the recompense with which you have recompensed us.

Amplified Bible
O daughter of Babylon, you devastator, How blessed will be the one Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.

Christian Standard Bible
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who pays you back what you have done to us.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who pays you back what you have done to us.

American Standard Version
O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed, Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee As thou hast served us.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Daughter of Babel, destroyer, Blessed is he who will pay you the reward which you have paid us!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Wretched daughter of Babylon! blessed shall he be who shall reward thee as thou hast rewarded us.

Contemporary English Version
Babylon, you are doomed! I pray the Lord's blessings on anyone who punishes you for what you did to us.

Douay-Rheims Bible
O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.

English Revised Version
O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You destructive people of Babylon, blessed is the one who pays you back with the same treatment you gave us.

Good News Translation
Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy are those who pay you back for what you have done to us--

International Standard Version
Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.

JPS Tanakh 1917
O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; Happy shall he be, that repayeth thee As thou hast served us.

Literal Standard Version
O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, | O the blessedness of him who repays to you your deed, | That you have done to us.

Majority Standard Bible
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.

New American Bible
Desolate Daughter Babylon, you shall be destroyed, blessed the one who pays you back what you have done us!

NET Bible
O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us!

New Revised Standard Version
O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us!

New Heart English Bible
Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be blessed who rewards you, as you have served us.

Webster's Bible Translation
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

World English Bible
Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.

Young's Literal Translation
O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one, O the happiness of him who repayeth to thee thy deed, That thou hast done to us.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
By the Rivers of Babylon
7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!” 8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us. 9Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.…

Cross References
Revelation 18:6
Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.

Isaiah 13:1
This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:

Isaiah 13:16
Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.

Isaiah 47:1
"Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.

Jeremiah 25:12
But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

Jeremiah 50:1
This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:

Jeremiah 50:15
Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.


Treasury of Scripture

O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewards you as you have served us.

daughter

Isaiah 47:1-5
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate…

Jeremiah 50:41
Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

Jeremiah 52:33
And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.

who art

Isaiah 13:1
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

Isaiah 14:4-24
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! …

Isaiah 21:1
The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.

destroyed.

Psalm 149:6-9
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; …

Isaiah 13:3-5
I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness…

Isaiah 44:28
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

rewardeth.

Jeremiah 50:15-29
Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her…

Revelation 18:6
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Jump to Previous
Babylon Blessed Daughter Destroyed Destruction Devastated Doomed Happiness Happy Laid Meted Recompense Rendereth Repaid Repayeth Repays Requites Rewardeth Rewards Served Waste
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Babylon Blessed Daughter Destroyed Destruction Devastated Doomed Happiness Happy Laid Meted Recompense Rendereth Repaid Repayeth Repays Requites Rewardeth Rewards Served Waste
Psalm 137
1. The constancy of the Jews in captivity
7. The prophet curses Edom and Babel














(8) Daughter of Babylon--i.e., Babylon itself. (See Psalm 9:14, Note.)

Who art to be destroyed.--Considerable doubt attaches to the meaning of the Hebrew word here. Our version is that of Theodotion. Aquila and Jerome have "wasted" (comp. Prayer Book version); Symmachus, "robber;" the LXX. and Vulg., "wretched."

As pointed, the word is a passive participle, and must be rendered as by Aquila, "wasted" or "destroyed," but with the recollection that a Hebrew would thus speak proleptically of a doom foreseen though not accomplished. Delitzsch quotes an Arab saying: "Pursue the caught one "--i.e., sure to be caught.

The "luxury of revenge" is well expressed in this beatitude, pronounced on him who can carry out to all its bitter end the lex talionis. Commentators have in turn tried to disguise and justify the expression of passion. Happily the Bible allows us to see men as they were without taking their rules of feeling and conduct as ours. "The psalm is beautiful as a poem--the Christian must seek his inspiration elsewhere."

Verse 8. - O daughter of Babylon; i.e. O nation of the Babylonians (comp. Isaiah 47:1, 5; Psalm 9:14, etc.). Who art to be destroyed; literally, thou desolated one. The desolation of Babylon began with its capture by Cyrus, but was not completed for many centuries. In the Archaemenian period it was one of the chief cities of the empire. Even under the Parthians it was still a flourishing town. But from the time of Isaiah's prophecy (Isaiah 13:1-22) it was a doomed city, and in the eyes of a devout Jew already "desolate." Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us; i.e. happy shall he be that completes thy destruction, and the destruction of thy people. He will be the instrument for carrying out God's vengeance.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
O Daughter
בַּת־ (baṯ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1323: A daughter

Babylon,
בָּבֶ֗ל (bā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city

doomed to destruction,
הַשְּׁד֫וּדָ֥ה (haš·šə·ḏū·ḏāh)
Article | Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine singular
Strong's 7703: To deal violently with, despoil, devastate, ruin

blessed
אַשְׁרֵ֥י (’aš·rê)
Interjection
Strong's 835: Happiness, interjection, how happy!

is he who repays
שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם־ (šey·šal·lem-)
Pronoun - relative | Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7999: To be safe, to be, completed, to be friendly, to reciprocate

you
לָ֑ךְ (lāḵ)
Preposition | second person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

as
גְּ֝מוּלֵ֗ךְ (gə·mū·lêḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 1576: Treatment, an act, service, requital

you have done
שֶׁגָּמַ֥לְתְּ (šeg·gā·malt)
Pronoun - relative | Verb - Qal - Perfect - second person feminine singular
Strong's 1580: To deal fully or adequately with, deal out to, wean, ripen

to us.
לָֽנוּ׃ (lā·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's Hebrew


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OT Poetry: Psalm 137:8 Daughter of Babylon doomed to destruction he (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 137:7
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