1.

Come, all ye young people of every relation,

Come listen awhile, and to you I will tell

How I was first called to seek for salvation,

Redemption in Jesus who saved me from hell.

2.

I was not yet sixteen when Jesus first called me,

To think of my soul, and the state I was in;

I saw myself standing a distance from Jesus,

Between me and him was a mountain of sin.

3.

The devil perceived that I was convinced,

He strove to persuade me that I was too young,

That I would get weary before my ascension,

And wish that I had not so early begun.

4.

Sometimes he'd persuade me that Jesus was partial,

When he was a setting of poor sinners free,

That I was forsaken, and quite reprobated,

And there was no mercy at all for poor me.

5.

But glory to Jesus, his love's not confined

To princes, nor men of a nobler degree;

His love it flows bounteous to all human creatures,

He died for poor sinners, when nailed to the tree.

6.

And when I was groaning in sad lamentation,

My soul overwhelmed in sorrow and in sin,

He drew near me in mercy, and looked on me in pity,

He pardoned my sins, and he gave me relief.

7.

And now I've found favor in Jesus my Savior,

And all his commandments I'm bound to obey;

I trust he will keep me from all Satan's power,

Till he shall think proper to call me away.

8.

So farewell, young people, if I can't persuade you

To leave off your follies and go with a friend,

I'll follow my Savior, in whom I've found favor

My days to his glory I'm bound for to spend.