1. Ye simple souls who strayFar from the path of peace,That lonely, unfrequented wayTo life and happiness,Why will ye folly loveAnd throng the downward road,And hate the wisdom from above,And mock the sons of God?
2. Madness and miseryYe count our life beneath,And nothing great or good can seeOr glorious in our death;As only born to grieve,Beneath your feet we lie,And utterly contemned we liveAnd 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 GhostCan witness better things,For he, whose blood is all our boast,Has made us priests and kings.
4. Riches unsearchableIn Jesus’ love we know,And pleasures springing from the wellOf life our souls o’erflow.The Spirit we receiveOf wisdom, grace, and power:And though ’mid scenes of woe we live,Rejoicing evermore.
5. Angels our servants areAnd keep in all our ways;And in their watchful hands they bearThe sacred sons of grace;Unto that heavenly blissThey all our steps attend,And God himself our Father is,And Jesus is our Friend.
6. With him we walk in white;We in his image shine;Our robes are robes of glorious light,Our righteousness divine.On all the kings of earthWith pity we look down;And claim, in virtue of our birth,A never-fading crown.