Psalms 137:6
4 How can we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand cease to function.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
7 Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem as my greatest joy!
- KJV
- If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
- WEB
- Let 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.
- ASV
- Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I remember thee not; If I prefer not Jerusalem Above my chief joy.
- DARBY
- If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to my palate: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
- BLB
- May my tongue cling to my palate, if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy!
- ÅB
- Min tunge henge fast ved min gane om jeg ikke kommer deg i hu, om jeg ikke setter Jerusalem over min høyeste glede!
- OTB
- Må min tunge klistre seg til ganen
Hvis jeg ikke husker deg,
Hvis jeg ikke ærer Jerusalem
Over min største glede. - B1930
- Min tunge henge fast ved min gane om jeg ikke kommer dig i hu, om jeg ikke setter Jerusalem over min høieste glede!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ezekiel 3:26
I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, though they are a rebellious house.
Read in contextPsalms 22:15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
Read in contextJob 29:10
The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
Read in contextIsaiah 41:17
The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
Read in contextPsalms 84:10
For 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.
Read in contextLamentations 4:4
The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
Read in context1 Thessalonians 3:7–9
For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we have been reassured about you, because of your faith.
Read in contextPhilippians 1:20
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
Read in context