Light of the world! for­ev­er, ev­er shin­ing,
There is no change in Thee;
True light of life, all joy and health en­shrin­ing,
Thou canst not fade nor flee.

Thou hast aris­en, but Thou des­cend­eth ne­ver;
Today shines as the past;
All that Thou wast, Thou art, and shalt be ev­er,
Brightness from first to last!

Night vi­sits not Thy sky, nor storm, nor sad­ness;
Day fills up all its blue:
Unfailing beau­ty, and un­fal­ter­ing glad­ness,
And love for ev­er new!

Why walk in dark­ness? Our true light yet shin­eth,
It is not night, but day!
All heal­ing and peace His light en­shrin­eth,
Why shun His lov­ing ray?

Are night and sha­dows bet­ter, tru­er, dear­er,
Than day and joy and love?
Do trem­blings and mis­giv­ings bring us nearer
To the great God of love?

Light of the world! un­dim­ming and un­set­ting,
O shine each mist away!
Banish the fear, the false­hood, and the fret­ting,
Be our un­chang­ing day!