"The ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 35:10.
HE children of God, in glad freedom returning,
Their pilgrimage journey with joy have begun;
The desert, the darkness, the bondage, the mourning,
The travail and thraldom, are over and done.
Onward to Zion, the city immortal!
Riseth their song of delight by the road,
Swelling afar till they reach the crown'd portal—
The home of the ransomed, the city of God.
No more shall they languish in fetters and prison,
By passionate evil and hatred imbued;
Their Shiloh—Redeemer—for them has arisen;
Their hearts have been changed, and their natures renewed.
Onward to Zion, the city immortal!
Riseth their song of delight by the road,
Swelling afar till they reach the crown'd portal—
The home of the ransomed, the city of God.
By the "highway" they come and are coming, and ever
New feet join the marching, new lips the refrain;
The weak knees are strengthened by ceaseless endeavor;
The dumb tongues are loosened, and blend in the strain.
Onward to Zion, the city immortal!
Riseth their song of delight by the road,
Swelling afar till they reach the crown'd portal—
The home of the ransomed, the city of God.
From the hedgerows and byways, from sorrow and sighing,
The wilderness breaking in bloom as they sing—
With joy everlasting, all dangers defying,
And shouting, they come to abide with the King.
Onward to Zion, rebuilt and eternal;
Free as the light, with their banners they move,
Chanting their psalms, to the city supernal,
Matchless in beauty and perfect in love.
