 | Later Lyrics |  |
20
REQUITAL.
He died beneath the uplifted thong
Who spared for us a thousand lives:
He came to sing glad Israel's song;
We gave him Babylonian gyves.
Who spared for us a thousand lives:
He came to sing glad Israel's song;
We gave him Babylonian gyves.
With swelling heart and simple thought
He warned us of the unheeded snare
Our chiefs discovered: vilely caught,
They flung him back to perish there.
He warned us of the unheeded snare
Our chiefs discovered: vilely caught,
They flung him back to perish there.
Did Pilate seal the Saviour's fate
As still the shuddering Nations say,
When, in that hour of high debate,
With ill-washed hands he turned away?
As still the shuddering Nations say,
When, in that hour of high debate,
With ill-washed hands he turned away?
21
Sweet Christ, with flagellations brought
To thine immortal martyrdom,
Cancel the bitter treasons wrought
By men who bid thy kingdom come.
To thine immortal martyrdom,
Cancel the bitter treasons wrought
By men who bid thy kingdom come.
Their sinful blood we may not urge
While Mercy stays thy righteous hand;
But take all ours, if that should purge
The wicked patience of the land.
While Mercy stays thy righteous hand;
But take all ours, if that should purge
The wicked patience of the land.
| Later Lyrics | |