Ye shall shine as the stars in the fade­less for­ev­er,
Who turn un­to Je­sus the per­ish­ing here,
Who so kind­ly are lead­ing the lambs to the Giv­er,
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,
And ne­ver forget, though lof­ty or low­ly,
How cost­ly a gem is the spi­rit they bear.

There are souls that look yearn­ing­ly in­to your faces;
They’re catch­ing the beams of the hea­ven­ly light;
They are turn­ing, but slow­ly, from sin’s des­ert plac­es,
Into the beau­ti­ful path­way of right.
Oh, bet­ter by far than all world­ly be­stow­ment,
The crown, with its stars, that your la­bor shall win;
Oh turn to the right the souls of the child­ren;
And stoop down to ga­ther the poor­est one in.

Old Time, with its guer­don of hon­or and trea­sure,
So 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;
For the seed you are sow­ing with pa­tience and la­bor
Ere long will be wav­ing in har­vests of gold.

Then work with a will, for the ag­es are be­ing
Condemned in a cy­cle of mea­sure­less years;
The tread of the migh­ty One go­eth be­fore thee,
Already the dawn of His bright­ness ap­pears;
Not long shall 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 ere the night sha­dow
Shall ga­ther its gloom, and ye la­bor no more.