It was a sheep, not a lamb that strayed away,
In the parable we are told;
A grown-up sheep that had gone astray...
From the ninety and nine in the fold.
Out in the meadows, out in the cold,
Twas a sheep the Good Shepherd sought:
Back to the flock and into the fold,
Twas a sheep the God Shepherd brought.
And why for the sheep should we earnestly long
And so earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger, if they go wrong,
They will lead the young lambs astray!
For the lambs follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray;
If the sheep go wrong, It will not be long
Till the lambs are as wrong as they.
So, with the sheep we earnestly plead,
For the sake of the lambs today,
If the lambs are lost, what a terrible cost
Some sheep may have to pay.