Once they awakened shepherds from their sleep,
Urging them haste to Bethlehem to see
The promised king, who came to earth to keep
Prophetic pledges to humanity.

He was despised, rejected, not esteemed,
A man of sorrows, no stranger to grief.
He had no form, no comeliness, it seemed.
To His report so few professed belief.

Yet He shall see; He shall be satisfied,
Though He was bruised for our iniquity.
By His chastisement we are justified.
His righteous seed and servants He shall see.

With hope and faith we long to be His seed,
To bear His name and come into His rest,
To lay aside all bondage and be freed
From sin and death, to be eternally blessed.