Lord Je­sus, who art come
A teach­er sent from Heav’n
And by both word and deed
God’s truth to us hast giv’n,
Thou wise­ly hast or­dained
The ho­ly min­is­try
That we, Thy flock may know
The way to God through Thee.

Thou hast, O Lord, re­turned,
To God’s right hand as­cend­ing;
Yet Thou art in the world,
Thy king­dom here ex­tend­ing.
Through preach­ing of Thy Word
In ev­ery land and clime
Thy peo­ple’s faith is kept
Until the end of time.

O bless­èd min­is­try
Of re­con­ci­li­ation,
That shows the way to God
And brings to us sal­va­tion!
By Thine ev­an­gel pure,
Lord, Thou pre­serv’st Thy fold
Dost call, en­light­en, keep,
Dost com­fort and up­hold.

Preserve this min­is­try
While har­vest days are keep­ing;
And since the fields are white
And hands are few for reap­ing,
Send work­ers forth, O Lord,
The sheaves to ga­ther in
That not a soul be lost
Which Thou art come to win.

The ser­vants Thou hast called
And to Thy Church art giv­ing
Preserve in doc­trine pure
And ho­li­ness of liv­ing.
Thy Spir­it fill their hearts,
Endue their tongues with pow­er;
What they should bold­ly speak,
Oh, give them in that hour!

Yea, bless Thy Word al­way,
Our souls for­ev­er feed­ing;
And may we ne­ver lack
A faith­ful shep­herd’s lead­ing!
Seek Thou the wan­der­ing sheep,
Bind up the sore op­pressed,
Lift up the fall­en ones,
And grant the wea­ry rest.

Bring those in­to Thy fold
Who still to Thee are stran­gers;
Guard those who are with­in
Against of­fense and dan­gers.
Press on­ward with Thy Word
Till pas­tor and his fold
Through faith in Thee, O Christ,
Thy glo­ry shall be­hold.