Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America ‎#348

348. Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways

1 Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways.
Old now is earth, and none may count her days,
Yet thou, her child, whose head is crowned with flame,
Still wilt not hear thine inner God proclaim,
'Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways.'

2 Earth might be fair, and all men glad and wise.
Age after age their tragic empires rise,
Built while they dream, and in that dreaming weep:
Would man but wake from out his haunted sleep,
Earth might be fair, and all men glad and wise.

3 Earth shall be fair, and all her people one;
Nor till that hour shall God's whole will be done.
Now, even now, once more from earth to sky,
Peals forth in joy man's old, undaunted cry,
'Earth shall be fair, and all her folk be one!'

Text Information

• First Line: Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways
• Author: Clifford Bax, b. 1886
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1958
• Topic: The Church Year: Advent; The Church Year: Septuagesima to Lent; The Church Year: Lent; The Life in Christ: Repentance and Faith; Church Life and Work: City, Nation, World
• Copyright: Words copyright by A. D. Peters. Used by permission
• Notes: Now Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: OLD 124th
• Meter: 10 10, 10 10, 10.
• Key: F Major
• Source: Melody in Genevan Psalter, 1551