Scripture Verse

They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:3

Introduction

Words: At­trib­ut­ed to Emi­ly J. Bug­bee in The Sun­day School Teach­er (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Ad­ams, Black­mer & Ly­on), vol­ume 1, num­ber 1, Jan­ua­ry 1866, page 3. Com­pare Ye Shall Shine as the Stars.

Music: New Braun­fels, from The Sou­thern Har­mo­ny, by Will­iam Wal­ker (1809–1875) (🔊 pdf nwc) (re­peats last line of each verse).

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

portrait
William Walker (1809–1875)

Lyrics

Ye shall shine as the stars
In the fade­less for­ev­er,
Who turn un­to Je­sus the per­ish­ing here,
Who gent­ly are lead­ing
The lambs to the pas­ture
Where flow­eth the wa­ter
So cool­ing and clear.

Then pray­er­ful­ly, care­ful­ly,
Go to your la­bors,
And deal with them wise­ly, the souls of your care,
Never for­get­ting,
Though lof­ty or low­ly,
How cost­ly a gem
Is the spi­rit they bear.

Souls that look yearn­ing­ly
Ito your faces,
Catching the beams of the hea­ven­ly light,
Turning but slow­ly
From sin’s de­sert places,
Into the beau­ti­ful path­way of light.

Better, by far, than
All world­ly be­stow­ment,
Is the re­ward that your se­rvice will win;
Turning to right­eous­ness
Souls of the child­ren,
Stooping to ga­ther
The poor­est ones in.

Time, with its guer­dons
O hon­or and trea­sure,
Soon will be lost in the mea­sure­less sea,
But yon­der a crown,
That is starred with the glo­ry
Of souls for thy hire,
Will be wait­ing for thee.

Then turn not thy hand from
The work that’s be­fore thee,
Nor suf­fer thy heart to grow care­less and cold;
The seeds ye are sow­ing,
With pa­tience and pray­er,
Ere long will be wav­ing
In har­vests of gold.

And work, with a will,
For the ag­es are be­ing
Condensed in the cycles of won­der­ful years;
The tread of the Migh­ty One
Goeth be­fore thee,
And soon will the dawn
Of His bright­ness ap­pear.

Not long may it be till
The Mas­ter shall call thee;
Not long till the time of thy mis­sion is o’er—
Then work while the day lasts,
And e’er the night’s sha­dow
Shall ga­ther its gloom,
And ye la­bor no more.