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Behold, I Make All Things New
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Behold, I Make All Things New

There's nothing new the Preacher cries,
With saddened heart, and weary mind;
That which hath been is that which is,
And nothing new on earth we find.

476

Night follows day, and day the night,
As the earth circles round the sun;
The rivers from the ocean rise,
And back into the ocean run.
Man cannot rise above himself,
And reason's calm behests obey;
Though for a time he heed her laws,
Soon will he yield to passion's sway.
The order of our daily life
May wild confusion yet succeed;
We see not yet those happy years,
Of which in prophecy we read.
For in a circle all things move,
They different seem, yet are the same;
That which the future now we call,
Is still the present but in name.
Not so the Spirit teaching saith,
New heavens and earth shall we behold;
A brighter, fairer, happier scene
Shall, even here, succeed the old.
The same, yet changed, improved, adorned
By skill of man, and Power Divine;
Coworking here to our great end,
Far-seeing, healthful, and benign.
No more disease, nor pain, nor death
Shall in that blessed world be known;
Nor sin can enter, and defile,
And make that paradise its own.
The former things have passed away,
Like the dark shadows of the night;
And God himself shall dwell with men,
And be their Everlasting Light.
Within, the spirit, quickened, sees
New power and love in all around;
And heavenly music greets the ear
In every voice, and every sound.

477

Behold, He maketh all things new,
It hears from angel harps above;
Come quickly Lord! on earth fulfil
Thy prophecy of joy and love.
Poem No. 634; c. 16 January 1875