Hark, the Voice of Jesus Calling

 
1 

Hark, the voice of Jesus crying,

"Who will go and work today?

Fields are white, and harvests waiting,

who will bear the sheaves away?"

Long and loud the Master calls us,

rich reward He offers free;

who will answer, gladly saying,

"Here am I, send me, send me"?

2* 

If you cannot cross the ocean,

and the distant lands explore,

you can find the lost around you,

you can help them at your door;

if you cannot give your thousands,

you can give the widow's mite;

what you truly give for Jesus

will be precious in His sight.

3 

If you cannot be the watchman

standing high on Zion's wall,

pointing out the path to heaven,

off'ring life and peace to all,

with your prayers and with your bounties

you can do what heav'n demands;

you can be like faithful Aaron,

holding up the prophet's hands.

4 

Let none hear you idly saying,

"There is nothing I can do,"

while the lost of earth are dying,

and the Master calls for you;

take the task He gives you gladly;

let His work your pleasure be;

answer quickly when He calls you,

"Here am I, send me, send me."

Author: Daniel March 1816-1909

Above are the original lyrics. They are somewhat altered in our hymnal (Great Songs of the Church):

1

Hark! the voice of Jesus calling:

"Who will go and work today?

Fields are white, the harvest waiting --

Who will bear the sheaves away?"

2

While the souls of men are dying,

And the Master calls for you,

Let none hear you idly saying,

"There is nothing I can do."

3*

If you cannot speak like angels,

If you cannot preach like Paul,

You can tell the love of Jesus,

You can say, "He died for all."

4

Gladly take the task He gives you;

Let His work your pleasure be;

Answer quickly when He calleth,

"Here am I; O Lord, send me."

*This verse is a paraphrase of March's lyrics (stanzas 2 and 3a), and may be more familiar to modern ears as part of the African American spiritual "There is a Balm in Gilead." Spirituals are essentially folk songs, and so they are dynamic, subject to alterations and additions, not bound to a specific set of lyrics or affected by copyright issues.  

Isaiah 6

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.