Scripture Verse

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28–30

Introduction

Words: Jo­seph Hart, Hymns Com­posed on Va­ri­ous Sub­jects 1759, num­ber 100, alt.; re­frain ano­ny­mous.

Music: Res­to­ra­tion from The Sou­thern Har­mo­ny and Mu­sic­al Com­pan­ion, by Will­iam Wal­ker (New York: Hast­ings House, 1835) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Hart (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
William Walker (1809–1875)

Lyrics

Come, ye sin­ners, poor and needy,
Weak and wound­ed, sick and sore;
Jesus rea­dy stands to save you,
Full of pi­ty, love and pow­er.

Refrain

I will arise and go to Je­sus,
He will em­brace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Sav­ior,
O there are ten thou­sand charms.

Come, ye thirs­ty, come, and wel­come,
God’s free boun­ty glo­ri­fy;
True be­lief and true re­pent­ance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.

Refrain

Come, ye weary, hea­vy la­den,
Lost and ru­ined by the fall;
If you tar­ry till you’re bet­ter,
You will ne­ver come at all.

Refrain

View Him pros­trate in the gar­den;
On the ground your mak­er lies.
On the bloody tree be­hold Him;
Sinner, will this not suf­fice?

Refrain

Lo! th’in­car­nate God as­cend­ed,
Pleads the me­rit of His blood:
Venture on Him, ven­ture whol­ly,
Let no other trust in­trude.

Refrain

Let not con­science make you lin­ger,
Not of fit­ness fond­ly dream;
All the fit­ness He re­quir­eth
Is to feel your need of Him.

Refrain

Below is Hart’s original version (except 2 repeats instead of 3 in line 5 of each verse). Can be sung to Dismissal Will­iam L. Vi­ner, 1845 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Come, ye sinn­ers, poor and wretch­ed,
Weak and wound­ed, sick and sore,
Jesus rea­dy stands to save you,
Full of pi­ty joined with pow­er.
He is able, He is able;
He is will­ing: doubt no more.

Ho! ye needy; come, and welcome;
God’s free boun­ty glo­ri­fy.
True be­lief, and true re­pent­ance,
Every grace that brings us nigh,
Without mo­ney, with­out mo­ney,
Come to Je­sus Christ, and buy.

Let not con­science make you lin­ger:
Nor of fit­ness fond­ly dream.
All the fit­ness He re­quir­eth
Is, to feel your need of Him:
This He gives you, this He gives you;
’Tis the Spi­rit’s ris­ing beam.

Come ye wea­ry, hea­vy la­den,
Bruised and man­gled by the Fall;
If you tar­ry, till you’re bet­ter,
You will ne­ver come at all.
Not the right­eous, not the right­eous,
Sinners, Je­sus came to call.

View Him gro­vel­ing in the Garden;
Lo! your maker pros­trate lies.
On the bloody tree be­hold Him;
Hear Him cry, before He dies,
It is fin­ished, it is fin­ished.
Sinner, will not this suf­fice?

Lo! th’in­car­nate God, as­cend­ed,
Heads the me­rit of His blood.
Venture on Him, ven­ture whol­ly;
Let not oth­er trust in­trude.
None but Je­sus, none but Je­sus,
Can do help­less sin­ners good.

Saints and an­gels joined in con­cert,
Sing the prais­es of the Lamb;
While the bliss­ful seats of Hea­ven
Sweetly ec­ho with His name.
Hallelujah! Hal­le­lu­jah! Hal­le­lu­jah!
Sinners here may sing the same.