By rivers of sorrow we sat and remembered

By rivers of sorrow we sat and remembered
the city of happiness where we belong;
our harps and our melodies hung in the branches,
and there our tormentors demanded a song!

2. O how shall we sing in the anguish of exile
the songs of the Lord in a far-away land?
Jerusalem, see if I ever forget you
till death take my voice and the skill of my hand!

3. You daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
you people of Edom who throw down our walls,
be warned of the judgement on you and your children
when blasphemy fails and when tyranny falls.

4. And then shall the strings of the harp yield their music,
and then shall the tune of our song be restored;
and then shall the powers of the earth see the purpose,
the strong, the unquenchable, love of the Lord.