Scripture Verse

The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:45–46

Introduction

Words: Bir­die Bell, in Good­ly Pearls, by John R. Swe­ney & John J. Hood (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1875), num­ber 1.

Music: Pe­kan­ba­ru J. Stan­ley Bird (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Bell or Bird (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

There is a gift of won­drous price,
God has within His keep­ing;
But we forget this good­ly pearl,
While earth­ly trea­sures heap­ing.

Refrain

Oh, seek this pearl, this pre­cious pearl,
For it can ne­ver per­ish;
The Word of God makes known its worth,
And bids us own and cher­ish.

The gems of earth soon fail to charm,
They sa­tis­fy no yearn­ing—
Then let us prize this gift of God,
Its val­ue rare dis­cern­ing.

Refrain

For hav­ing this, the pearl of price,
Its pure de­light pos­sess­ing,
Ours souls en­joy an end­less peace,
And God’s eter­nal bless­ing.

Refrain