Hymn 263: Brief life is here our portion

Kukuru l’oj’ aiye wa

PART 1
  • Brief life is here our portion;
    Brief sorrow, short lived care;
    The life that knows no ending,
    The tearless life, is there.

  • Oh happy retribution!
    Short toil, eternal rest;
    For mortals and for sinners
    A mansion with the blest!

  • And now we fight the battle,
    But then shall wear the crown
    Of full and everlasting
    And passionless renown.

  • And He, whom now we trust in,
    Shall then be seen and known;
    And they that know and see Him
    Shall have Him for their own.

  • The morning shall awaken,
    The shadows flee away,
    And each true hearted servant
    Shall shine as doth the day.

  • There God, our king and portion,
    In fullness of His grace,
    We then shall see forever,
    And worship face to face. Amin.

  • PART 2
  • or thee, O dear, dear country,
    Mine eyes their vigils keep;
    For very love, beholding
    Thy happy name, they weep.
    The mention of thy glory
    Is unction to the breast
    And medicine in sickness
    And love and life and rest.

  • O one, O only mansion,
    O paradise of joy,
    Where tears are ever banished
    And smiles have no alloy!
    The Lamb is all thy splendor,
    The Crucified thy praise;
    His laud and benediction
    Thy ransomed people raise.

  • With jasper glow thy bulwarks,
    Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
    The sardis and the topaz
    Unite in thee their rays;
    Thine ageless walls are bonded
    With amethyst unpriced;
    The saints build up thy fabric,
    The cornerstone is Christ.

  • Thou hast no shore, fair ocean;
    Thou hast no time, bright day,
    Dear fountain of refreshment
    To pilgrims far away!
    Upon the Rock of Ages
    They raise thy holy tower;
    Thine is the victor’s laurel
    And thine the golden dower. Amin.