Once our gentle, loving Savior,
Was a child like you and me;
Come, and hear the precious story,
Naught on earth so sweet can be.

Refrain

Come, and hear the precious story,
How He came the lost to save;
How His life was only sorrow,
From the cradle, the cradle to the grave.

Come, and hear the precious story,
How our blessèd Lord was slain;
Once He gave Himself our ransom,
Now for us He lives again.

Refrain

Come, and hear the precious story,
Though repeated o’er and o’er;
Still, it always tell us something
That we never knew before.

Refrain

O how much we ought to thank Him
For the many gifts we share;
O how much we ought to praise Him
For His kind and watchful care.

Refrain

Dear Savior, if these lambs should stray,
From Thy secure enclosure’s bound,
And, lured by worldly joys away,
Among the thoughtless crowd be found,

Remember still that they are Thine,
That Thy dear sacred Name they bear,
Think that the seal of love divine
The sign of covenant grace they wear.

In all their erring, sinful years,
Oh, let them ne’er forgotten be;
Remember all the prayers and tears
Which made them consecrate to Thee.

And when these lips no more can pray,
These eyes can weep for them no more,
Turn Thou their feet from folly’s way,
The wanderers to Thy fold restore.

Lovingly the Shepherd,
Seeking the lost sheep,
Found it tired and hungry
On the mountain steep.

Refrain

Jesus paid the price, great the pain and loss;
To redeem the world, at great pain and loss.
To redeem the world, to redeem the world,
Jesus Christ laid down His life upon the cross.

Precious is the lost coin,
Sought with love and care,
And with joy the owner
Found her treasure rare.

Refrain

Tenderly the Father
Welcomes home His son;
Though once dead he liveth,
Love at last has won.

Refrain

There were ninety and nine that safely lay
In the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away,
Far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry,
Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way
That mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray
Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”
“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder riven
And up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven,
“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne,
“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”