Scripture Verse

Ye shall be witnesses unto Me. Acts 1:8

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: James M. Kirk, in Rose of Sha­ron Hymns (Hymn Book Com­mit­tee of the Men­non­ite Breth­ren of Christ in Penn­syl­van­ia, Penn­syl­van­ia, 1917) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a bet­ter pho­to of Kirk,

portrait
James M. Kirk (1854–1945)

Lyrics

Ye shall be My wit­ness­es,
Was Je­sus’ last com­mand,
To ev­ery kin­dred tongue and tribe,
In ev­ery clime and land;
Go, tell them of our Christ and say
His king­dom is at hand,

Refrain

Who will go and wit­ness for Je­sus?
Tell it out, tell it out,
The bless­èd Gos­pel sound,
Tell it out, tell it out,
The news the world around,
Till the name of Je­sus has
Been heard wher­ev­er man is found,
Who will go and wit­ness for Je­sus?

Jesus has com­miss­ioned you
And me to go or send,
A mess­en­ger in His dear name,
His glo­ri­ous cross de­fend;
And He has pro­mised to be with us,
Even to the end,

Refrain

God has said be of good cour­age,
Neither be afraid,
Though mount­ains seem to hedge the way,
He says be un­dis­mayed;
For Je­sus is our cap­tain and
Will al­ways be our aid,

Refrain

Hear the suf­fer­ing mill­ions cry­ing
For the liv­ing bread,
When Christ was here His words were,
Let the mul­ti­tudes be fed.
Then haste wher­ev­er man is found,
For all His blood was shed,

Refrain