King James Version

Psalms 137:4

How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?

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Hebrew

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אֵ֗יךְeykhhowאֵיךְparticle, interrogative — “how”H349how? or how!; also wherehow, what.נָשִׁ֥ירnashirsingשִׁירverb, qal, imperfect, 1st person, common, plural — “sing”, an unfinished actionH7891to singbehold (by mistake for H7789 (שׁוּר)), sing(-er, -ing man, -ing woman).אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).שִׁירshirsongשִׁירnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct — “song”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH7892a song; abstractly, singingmusical(-ick), [idiom] sing(-er, -ing), song.יְהוָ֑הyehvahJehovahיְהֹוָהnoun, proper name — “Jehovah”H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodJehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה).עַ֝֗לalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…אַדְמַ֥תadmatcountryאֲדָמָהnoun, common, feminine, singular, construct — “country”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH127soil (from its general redness)country, earth, ground, husband(-man) (-ry), land.נֵכָֽרnekharalienנֵכָרnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “alien”, the ordinary formH5236foreign, or (concretely) a foreigner, or (abstractly) heathendomalien, strange ([phrase] -er).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

How shall we sing Jehovah’s song In a foreign land?

Young’s Literal Translation

How do we sing the song of Jehovah, On the land of a stranger?

World English Bible

How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?

Darby Translation

How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?

Douay-Rheims

May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a foreign land?

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

How should we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Πῶς ᾄσωμεν τὴν ᾠδὴν Κυρίου ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλοτρίας;