Dear child­ren, whi­ther haste you so?
A jour­ney you are mak­ing;
To far off Beth­le­hem we go.
We there these flow’rs are tak­ing.
Why take you flow’rs to Beth­le­hem?
Are they meant for some strang­er?
The new­born King of Da­vid’s stem,
There’s cra­dled in a mang­er.

Why go so far to see a child,
Found in a low­ly sta­ble?
That Babe is God’s Son, sweet and mild,
To save man­kind He’s able.
Who is that child, O child­ren, tell?
What name to Him is giv­en?
“’Tis Je­sus Christ who loves us well,
And came to us from Heav­en.

“Him we will vis­it in yon stall,
In hum­ble ado­ra­tion.
Him will we give these flow­ers all;
He gives us blest sal­va­tion.
He is our shep­herd, we His sheep,
With food di­vine He feeds us,
That we the nar­row way may keep,
He by His hand e’er leads us.”