Scripture Verse

Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

Introduction

Words: Mrs. S. G. Smith, in Crown of Life, ed­it­ed by Will­iam A. Og­den (Toledo, Ohio: W. W. Whit­ney, 1875), num­ber 80.

Music: J. H. Les­lie (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Smith or Les­lie’s full name, or where to get good pho­tos of them (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Bring in the child­ren, oh, bring them in—
Teach them to turn from the high­ways of sin;
Lead their young feet in the paths of God—
Point them the way which the Sav­ior trod;
Christ may be wait­ing to wel­come them there,
Waiting to crown them with jew­els so rare;
Waiting to bless them and guard them from sin—
Heed then the mes­sage, and bring them in.

Turn not away from a gar­ment torn—
Under the tat­ters God’s im­age is worn;
Into the house of the un­de­filed
We may not en­ter un­less as a child;
Bring in the child­ren for Je­sus to hold—
He will em­brace them as oft­en of old;
He will en­rich them with bless­ings so rare—
Bring them to Je­sus, His love to share.

Hark! bless­èd words: oh, For­bid them not,
Come they from ho­vel, or pa­lace or cot;
But if a bless­ing from Je­sus you’d win,
Go through the by­ways, and bring them in.
Sympathy soon­est will en­ter the heart,
Causing the tear­drops of kind­ness to start;
Gather them in to the tem­ple of pray­er,
So in His king­dom bright crowns they’ll wear.