What is the thing of greatest price,

The whole creation round?

That, which was lost in Paradise,

That, which in Christ is found.

The soul of man,--Jehovah's breath!

That keeps two worlds at strife;

Hell moves beneath to work its death,

Heaven stoops to give it life.

God, to reclaim it, did not spare

His well-beloved Son;

Jesus, to save it, deign'd to bear

The Sins of all in One.

The Holy Spirit sealed the plan,

And pledged the blood divine,

To ransom every soul of man;

That price was paid for mine.

And is this treasure borne below

In earthly vessels frail;

Can none its utmost value know,

Till flesh and spirit fail?

Then let us gather round the Cross,

This knowledge to obtain,

Not by the soul's eternal loss,

But everlasting gain.