As birds their in­fant brood pro­tect,
And spread their wings to shel­ter them,
Thus saith the Lord to His elect,
So will I guard Je­ru­sa­lem.

And what then is Je­ru­sa­lem,
This dar­ling ob­ject of His cares?
Where is its worth in God’s es­teem?
Who built it? Who in­ha­bits there?

Jehovah found­ed it in blood,
The blood of His in­car­nate Son;
There dwell the saints, once foes to God
The sin­ners whom He calls His own.

There, though be­sieged on ev­ery side,
Yet much be­loved and guard­ed well,
From age to age they have de­fied
The ut­most force of earth and hell.

Let earth re­pent, and hell des­pair,
This ci­ty has a sure de­fense;
Her name is called, The Lord is there,
And who has pow­er to drive Him hence?