Thirty pieces of silver
For the Lord of life they gave;
Thirty pieces of silver—
Only the price of a slave!
But this was the priestly value
Of the Holy One of God;
And they weighed it out in the temple—
The price of the Savior's blood.
Thirty pieces of silver
Laid in Iscariot's hand;
Thirty pieces of silver
And the aid of an armed band,
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
Brought the humble Son of God
At midnight, from the garden
Where His sweat had been like blood.
"Thirty pieces of silver”
Burns on the traitor's brain;
"Thirty pieces of silver!
Oh! it is hellish gain!”
"I have sinned and betrayed the guiltless!”
He cried with a fevered breath,
As he threw them down in the temple,
And rushed to a madman's death.
Thirty pieces of silver
Lay in the house of God;
Thirty pieces of silver;
But oh, 'twas the price of blood!
And so for a place to bury
The stranger in, they gave
The price of their own Messiah,
Who lay in a borrowed grave.
It may not be for silver,
It may not be for gold,
But still, by tens of thousands,
The Prince of life is sold;
Sold for a godless friendship,
Sold for a selfish aim,
Sold for a fleeting trifle,
Sold for an empty name!
Sold in the mart of science,
Sold in the seat of power,
Sold in the shrine of fortune,
Sold in pleasure's bower.
Sold where the awful bargain
None but God's eye can see!
Ponder, my soul, the question:
Shall He be sold by thee?
Sold! O God, what a moment!
Stifled is conscience' voice—
Sold! And a wond'ring angel
Records the fatal choice!
Sold! But the price accepted
To a living coal shall turn,
With the pangs of a late repentance
Deep in the soul to burn.
W. B.
"GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE
TOWARD US, IN THAT, WHILE
WE WERE YET SINNERS,
CHRIST DIED FOR US.”
"Behold, the eye of the Lord
is upon them that fear Him,
upon them that hope in His
mercy; to deliver their soul
from death.”
"There is none other
name under heaven
given among men,
whereby we must be
SAVED.”