Then the Jews' passover drew nigh,
And to Jerusalem
Went Jesus, and His followers
The journey made with Him.
But when they reached the temple court
A market there they found;
Creatures on sale, for sacrifice,
And merchants sitting round.
Then Jesus made a scourge of cords,
And drove them all outside,
And, angered by their wickedness,
The money scattered wide.
And the disciples then recalled
The Psalmist's ancient word,
"I have been eaten up with zeal
Unto thy house, my Lord."
Then said the Jews, "We want to see
What evidence you show
That you possess authority
Such things as these to do?"
"Cast down this temple," Jesus said,
Let its proud walls decay,
And I will raise it up again,
Ere three days pass away."
They answer, "Forty years and six
This temple took to build,
And wilt thou rear it in three days?
Art thou so strangely skilled?"
But of his body thus he spoke,
A temple strong to view,
And the disciples, when He rose,
Recalled that word most true.
Now, while in old Jerusalem,
At the passover feast,
Jesus performed great miracles,
By which His fame increased.
Yet He gave not His confidence
To any, great or small,
Because He read the human mind
And knew the hearts of all.
And needed not to be informed
That man is weak and vain,
Who will applaud and honor now,
And persecute again.
