Thou, whose com­ing seers and sag­es
Long fore­told to Is­ra­el,
Hast ap­peared in these last ag­es,
Jesu Christ, Em­ma­nu­el.
O thou pre­cious day of grace,
Fraught with bless­ings to our race!
None need now des­pair of par­don,
Bowed be­neath a hope­less bur­den.

Simeon longed for Thy sal­va­tion;
David, wrapped with ho­ly fire,
Poured forth strains of in­spi­ra­tion,
As he swept his roy­al lyre;
Righteous men and gift­ed seers
Longed for Thee in by­gone years,
Some in si­lence, some loud cry­ing,
Mingling pray­ers with tears and sigh­ing.

God be bless­èd, who hath grant­ed
In His grace to you and me,
That for which so many pant­ed—
Vainly hoped to hear and see.
Now God’s coun­sel is re­vealed,
And the vi­sion is un­sealed;
God hath heard your sup­pli­ca­tion,
And is come to bring sal­va­tion.

Thou the Sav­ior long ex­pect­ed
Came to earth from His high throne,
Sad He wan­ders and ne­glect­ed,
E’en re­ceived not by His own;
Men per­mit Him to pass by
Without love or sym­pa­thy;
When He calls them they re­gard not,
And sin on as though they heard not.

And He knocks, im­pelled by pi­ty,
At the house of rich and poor,
Who in spite of His en­trea­ty,
Turn Him rude­ly from the door.
They who do not see their sin
Will not let the Sav­ior in;
For the whole need no phy­si­cian,
Satisfied with their con­di­tion.

Know ye Him who came to save us,
By His heav’n­ly Fa­ther sent?
All we need­ed free­ly gave us,
Bare Him­self our pun­ish­ment.
Live ye al­ways as they ought
Whom His pre­cious blood hath bought?
Are your names with those re­cord­ed
Whose true love shall be re­ward­ed?

Have you suf­fered Him to win you?
Are you sub­ject to His will?
Is His king­dom formed with­in you?
Or do you re­sist Him still?
Whom do you ye your mas­ter call,
Jesu Christ or Be­li­al?
Raise to Christ a loud ho­san­na!
He alone is life’s true man­na.

Joyfully we sing ho­san­na!
Blessèd Sav­ior, en­ter in;
Feed us with the liv­ing man­na,
Cleanse our hearts from ev­ery sin.
See, we op­en wide the door!
Enter, to de­part no more;
Come, and let us now en­throne Thee
In the hearts that long to own Thee.

Sin, alas! hath long com­pelled us
Her dread bid­ding to ob­ey,
And, both soul and bo­dy, held us
Captive with re­sist­less sway;
All our ef­forts have been vain
To cast off her ir­on chain;
Thou, and Thou alone, Lord Je­sus,
Canst from all our sins re­lease us.

Take Thy king­dom, wait no longer,
Since to Thee it doth be­long;
And He on­ly who is strong­er
Can re­lease us from the strong.
Make us hap­py, God’s dear Son,
Reap the fruit Thy love has won;
Till earth’s fur­thest realms ad­ore Thee,
And her kings fall down be­fore Thee.