Cast thy bread up­on the wa­ters,
Ye who have but scant sup­ply;
Angel eyes will watch above it,
You shall find it bye and bye.
He who in His right­eous bal­ance
Doth each hu­man act­ion weigh,
Will your sac­ri­fice re­mem­ber,
Will your lov­ing deed re­pay.

Cast thy bread upon the wa­ters,
Poor and wea­ry, worn with care,
Often sit­ting in the sha­dows,
Have you not a crumb to spare?
Can you not to those around you
Sing some lit­tle song of hope,
While you look with long­ing vi­sion
Thro’ faith’s migh­ty te­le­scope?

Cast thy bread upon the wa­ters,
Ye who have abun­dant store;
It may float on many bil­lows,
It may strand on ma­ny a shore;
You may think it lost for­ev­er;
But as sure as God is true,
In this life or in the oth­er,
It will yet re­turn to you.

Cast thy bread up­on the waters,
Far and wide your trea­sure strew;
Scatter it with will­ing fin­gers;
Laugh for joy to see it go;
For if you too close­ly keep it,
It will on­ly drag you down;
If you love it more than Je­sus,
It will keep you from your crown.

Cast thy bread up­on the wa­ters,
Waft it on with pray­er­ful breath;
In some dist­ant, doubt­ful mo­ment
It may save a soul from death;
Or when you shall sleep in si­lence,
’Neath the morn and ev­en­ing dew,
Stranger hands that you have strength­ened
May strew li­lies ov­er you.