On a hill far away stood an old rug­ged cross,
The em­blem of suf­fer­ing and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dear­est and best
For a world of lost sin­ners was slain.

Refrain

So I’ll cher­ish the old rug­ged cross,
Till my tro­phies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rug­ged cross,
And ex­change it some day for a crown.

O that old rug­ged cross, so de­spised by the world,
Has a won­drous at­tract­ion for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glo­ry above
To bear it to dark Cal­va­ry.

Refrain

In that old rug­ged cross, stained with blood so di­vine,
A won­drous beau­ty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Je­sus suf­fered and died,
To par­don and sanc­ti­fy me.

Refrain

To the old rug­ged cross I will ev­er be true;
Its shame and re­proach glad­ly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glo­ry for­ev­er I’ll share.

Refrain