[Downbeat Hook] Build houses in Babylon, [Movement I] Do not live by the suitcase at the door, The seventy years will not shrink for a rumor. Lay stone upon stone, put seed in the ground, Let children hear Hebrew where exile is loud. [Refrain] Build houses in Babylon, Plant gardens beneath a foreign sun. [Movement II] Seek the city’s peace without calling it home, Pray through the season till the promise has come. False dreams sell haste and refuse the long road, But hope is not fragile because it moves slow. [Movement III] Call and be heard, seek with the whole heart, The scattered will gather when mercy says start. Faith can build faithfully in enemy land, [Coda] Waiting is work when the future is in God’s hand. Plant gardens beneath a foreign sun. Build houses in Babylon,