1.
“By the blood of Thy covenant I have sent forth Thy prisoner
out of the pit wherein is no water.”
And now to make Thy bondage more secure,
They take Thee in triumphant mockery
Unto the house of Annas, standing by,
Bandying from place to place with hands impure,
To render condemnation doubly sure,
Far from all human help, and heap on high
The gathering load of that night's misery.
Yet Thou didst willingly those chains endure
Upon Thy spotless Body in Thy love,
If only Thou might'st so our ransom prove,
When we before the accuser shall be brought,
Silent as criminals, and pleading nought
But the great ransom Thou for us hast wrought,
And the returns of love which in us move.
