In pa­ra­dise re­pos­ing,
By life’s eter­nal well,
The ten­der lambs of Je­sus
In green­est pas­tures dwell.

There palms and ti­ny crown­lets
Aglow with bright­est gem,
Bedeck the ba­by mar­tyrs
Who died in Beth­le­hem.

With them the rose-wreathed ar­my
Of child­ren un­de­filed,
Who passed through mor­tal tor­ments
For love of Christ the child;

With them in peace un­end­ing,
With them in joy­ous mirth,
Are all the stain­less in­fants
Which since have gone from earth.

The an­gels, once their guard­ians,
Their fel­lows now in grace,
With them, in love ad­or­ing,
See God the Fa­ther’s face.

The lul­la­by to hush them
In that eter­nal rest,
Is sweet an­gel­ic sing­ing,
Their nurs­es mo­thers blest.

O Je­su, lov­ing Shep­herd,
Who ten­der­ly dost bear
Thy lambs in Thine own bo­som,
Bring us to join them there.