When mothers of Salem
Their children brought to Jesus,
The stern disciples drove them back
And bade them depart;
But Jesus saw them ere they fled,
And took them in His arms and said,
"Suffer the children to come unto Me."
And still the kind Saviour
Bids little children welcome,
For Jesus' loving, tender heart
To children is the same;
Though here His voice is no more heard,
From heaven He tells us in His Word,
"Suffer the children to come unto Me."
How happy the children
Who rest on Jesus' bosom,
And there, like little sheltered lambs,
Lie safely and at rest;
No one can pluck His lambs away,
And He who keeps them loves to say,
"Suffer the children to come unto Me."