Rise, my soul, to watch and pray,
From thy sleep awak­en;
Be not by the ev­il day
Unaware be tak­en.
For the foe, well we know,
Oft his har­vest reape­th,
While the Chris­tian sleep­eth.

Watch against the dev­il’s snares
Lest asleep he find thee;
For in­deed no pains he spares
To de­ceive and blind thee.
Satan’s prey oft are they
Who se­cure are sleep­ing
And no watch are keep­ing.

Watch! Let not the wick­ed world
With its pow­er defeat thee.
Watch lest with her pomp un­furled
She be­tray and cheat thee.
Watch and see lest there be
Faithless friends to charm thee,
Who but seek to harm thee.

Watch against thy­self, my soul,
Lest with grace thou tri­fle;
Let not self thy thoughts con­trol
Nor God’s mer­cy sti­fle.
Pride and sin lurk with­in
All thy hopes to scat­ter;
Heed not when they flat­ter.

But while watch­ing, al­so pray
To the Lord un­ceas­ing,
He will free thee, be thy stay.
Strength and faith in­creas­ing.
O Lord, bless in dis­tress
And let no­thing swerve me
From the will to serve Thee.

Therefore let us watch and pray,
Knowing He will hear us
As we see from day to day
Dangers ev­er near us,
And the end doth im­pend—
Our re­dem­ption near­eth
When the Lord ap­pear­eth.