O ’Twas a Joyful Sound to Hear

O ’twas a joy­ful sound to hear

Our tribes de­vout­ly say

Up

Is­ra­el! to the tem­ple haste

And keep your fes­tal day.

At Sa­lem’s courts we must ap­pear

With our as­sem­bled pow­ers

In strong and beau­te­ous or­der ranged

Like her unit­ed tow­ers.

O ev­er pray for Sa­lem’s peace;

For they shall pros­per­ous be

Thou ho­ly ci­ty of our God

Who bear true love to Thee.

May peace with­in Thy sac­red walls

A cons­tant guest be found;

With plen­ty and pros­per­ity

Thy pal­aces be crowned.

For my dear breth­ren’s sake

and friends

No less than breth­ren dear

I’ll pray: May peace in Sa­lem’s tow­ers

A con­stant guest ap­pear.

But most of all I’ll seek thy good

And ev­er wish thee well

For Si­on and the tem­ple’s sake

Where God vouch­safes to dwell.