1. Ye simple souls who stray
Far from the path of peace,
That lonely, unfrequented way
To life and happiness,
Why will ye folly love
And throng the downward road
And hate the wisdom from above
And mock the sons of God?
2. Madness and misery
Ye count our life beneath,
And nothing great or good can see
Or glorious in our death;
As only born to grieve,
Beneath your feet we lie,
And utterly condemned we live,
And unlamented die.
3. So wretched and obscure
The man whom ye despise,
So foolish, impotent, and poor,
Above your scorn we rise.
We through the Holy Ghost
Can witness better things;
For he whose blood is all our boast
has made us priests and kings.
4. Riches unsearchable
In Jesus’ love we know,
And pleasures springing from the well
Of life our souls o’erflow.
The Spirit we receive
Of wisdom, grace, and pow’r,
And, though ’mid scenes of woe we live,
Rejoicing evermore.