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
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),
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.