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 widom 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 contemned 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 power, And, though ’mid scenes of woe we live, Rejoicing evermore.