1 Tho’ temptation, the envoy of wrath,
Limns the future with beauty and gold,
And with roses e’er streweth our path,
Luring onward to “treasure untold;”
Neath the roses lurk sorrow and gloom,
And the path leads to ruin and night,
While the future brings sentence of doom
Unto him who stood not for the right.
Chorus:
Oh, it pays to do right,
Oh, it pays to do right;
Let us walk in the truth, in the truth and the light,
For it pays, yes, it pays to do right.
2 Happy we if our conscience may rest
From the demon of sin ever free,
While the beautiful home of the blest
Waiteth yonder for you and for me;
Then we have our reward even here,
If we walk in the truth and its might,
While the Shepherd of souls standeth near,
Guarding us when we dare to do right. [Chorus]
3 Oh, it pays to be noble and true,
Tho’ the world may condemn and despise,
For the mercy of God, like the dew,
Falleth gently on whom it decries;
Let us cling closely, then, to the cross,
Thro’ the darkness no less than the light,
And account all the world but as dross
If it weigh with the wrong ‘gainst the right. [Chorus]
Source: Good Will: A collection of New Music for Sabbath Schools and Gospel Meetings (Enlarged) #82