Words: Mary Bridges Canedy Slade, in Good News, or Songs and Tunes for Sunday Schools, Christian Associations, and Special Meetings, edited by Rigdon McCoy McIntosh (Boston, Massachusetts: Oliver Ditson & Company, 1876).
Music: Emilius Laroche
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Once, forth to meet the bridegroom,
At night ten virgins went;
Five lamps were trimmed for burning,
In five the oil was spent,
And while they slept and slumbered,
At midnight rose the shout
Behold the bridegroom cometh,
To meet him go ye out.
Refrain
Watch ye, therefore, watch I say,
Watch ye, therefore, watch and pray;
Ye know not the hour, ye know not the day
The Son of Man may come.
Then all the foolish virgins
Their need began to tell;
And all the wise ones answered,
Go ye to them that sell.
The foolish virgins hastened,
In darkness, fear, and shame,
The wise ones ready waited,
And lo the bridegroom came!
Refrain
Lord, Lord, unto us open,
The foolish virgins cried;
"I know ye not," unto them
The bridegroom's voice replied.
O Christians, learn the lesson,
Your lamps be wise and trim,
And when the Bridegroom cometh,
Go gladly in with Him.
Refrain
Hymns supplied through the gracious generosity of the Cyber Hymnal Website