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Psalm 137:8

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

6Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you, if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7Remember, LORD, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”
8Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
9Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
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Notice

The word “happy” jars against Babylon’s coming destruction, as a survivor of Jerusalem’s ruin welcomes repayment that the next line extends to killing children.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What changes in your reading of “he will be happy” when you read the next line?

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How does Jerusalem’s destruction shape your response to the speaker’s desire for Babylon’s repayment?

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What desire for repayment would you need to name before God without acting on it?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Revelation 18:6Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.Both passages describe repayment measured against what the recipient has done, though Revelation adds the demand for double repayment.
Isaiah 47:1“Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called …Both address Babylon as a daughter facing ruin; Isaiah describes her loss of throne and privileged status.
Obadiah 1:15For the day of the LORD is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head.Both declare that deeds will return upon those who committed them, making repayment the shared thread.
Esther 8:11In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together and to defend their lives—to destroy, to kill, and to cause to …Both concern violence involving the Jewish people; Esther records permission to defend against attackers, while the psalm welcomes repayment.
Isaiah 14:4–24that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”Both speak against Babylon and anticipate its downfall, with Isaiah naming its king as an oppressor.
Jeremiah 25:12–14“It will happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” says the LORD, “for their iniquity. I will make …Both announce Babylon’s destruction; Jeremiah names the LORD as the one who will punish the nation for its iniquity.
Psalm 54:5He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth.Both link repayment with an enemy’s destruction, and Psalm 54 directs its plea for destruction to God.
Revelation 14:8–11Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual …Both name Babylon in connection with downfall, though Revelation announces its fall and Psalm 137 anticipates its destruction.
Isaiah 21:1The burden of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the South sweep through, it comes from the wilderness, from an awesome land.Both convey a looming threat, though Isaiah’s supplied line neither names Babylon nor describes repayment.
Jeremiah 50:1–51:64The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.Both concern Babylon; the supplied Jeremiah line introduces the LORD’s word about it without yet describing judgment.
Psalm 149:6–9May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand,Both contain violent language, though the supplied Psalm 149 line names a sword without identifying its target.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Name an injustice before God and leave judgment with him

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Encouragement

Such words come from the wreckage of Jerusalem. Reading them does not authorize you to harm anyone; the cry for repayment belongs before God, who remains judge.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 137:8. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 137 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).