"War against Babylon!" shout we around,

  Be our banners through earth unfurled;

Rise up, ye nations, ye kings, at the sound—

  "War against Babylon!" shout thro' the world!

Oh thou, that dwellest on many waters,[1]

  Thy day of pride is ended now;

And the dark curse of Israel's daughters

  Breaks like a thundercloud over thy brow!

    War, war, war against Babylon!

Make bright the arrows, and gather the shields,[2]

  Set the standard of God on high;

Swarm we, like locusts, o'er all her fields.

  "Zion" our watchword, and "vengeance" our cry!

Woe! woe!—the time of thy visitation[3]

  Is come, proud land, thy doom is cast—

And the black surge of desolation

  Sweeps o'er thy guilty head, at last!

      War, war, war against Babylon!

[1] "Oh thou that dwellest upon many waters…thine end is come."—Jer. li. 13.

[2] "Make bright the arrows; gather the shields…set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon"—Jer. li. 11, 12.

[3] "Woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation!"—Jer. l. 27.