O what a stiff re­bel­li­ous house
Was Jacob’s an­cient race!
False to their own most so­lemn vows,
And to their mak­er’s grace.
They broke the co­ve­nant of His love,
And did His laws des­pise;
Forgot the works He wrought to prove
His pow­er be­fore their eyes.

They saw the plagues on Egypt light
From His re­veng­ing hand;
What dread­ful tok­ens of His might
Spread o’er the stub­born land!
They saw Him cleave the migh­ty sea,
And marched in safe­ty through,
With wa­te­ry walls to guard their way,
Till they es­caped the foe.

A won­drous pil­lar marked the road,
Composed of shade and light;
By day it proved a shel­ter­ing cloud,
A lead­ing fire by night.
He from the rock their thirst sup­plied;
The gush­ing wa­ters fell,
And ran in ri­vers by their side,
A con­stant mi­ra­cle.

Yet they pro­voked the Lord most high,
And dared dis­trust His hand:
Can He with bread our host sup­ply
Amidst this de­sert land?
The Lord with in­dig­na­tion heard,
And caused His wrath to flame;
His ter­rors ev­er stand pre­pared
To vin­di­cate His name.