Bible Songs — Invitation

The Ninety and Nine

There were ninety and nine that safely lay

No. 1265
Tune THE NINETY AND NINE.
Words Elizabeth C. Clephane.
Music Ira D. Sankey.
Key A-flat major
Singing key G♭ major
Time 6/8
5 stanzas

Words

There were ninety and nine that safely layIn the shelter of the fold,But one was out on the hills away,Far, far from the gates of gold;—Away on the mountains wild and bare,Away from the tender Shepherd's care,Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

"Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine;Are they not enough for thee?"But the Shepherd made answer: "One of mineHas wandered away from me,And although the road be rough and steep,I go to the desert to find my sheep,I go to the desert to find my sheep."

But none of the ransomed ever knewHow deep were the waters crossed;Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed throughEre he found his sheep that was lost.Far out in the desert he heard its cry,—Fainting and helpless, and ready to die.

"Lord, whence are these blood-drops all the wayThat mark out the mountain's track?""They were shed for one who had gone astray.Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.""Lord, why are thy hands so rent and torn?""They are pierced to-night by many a thorn."

But all through the mountains, thunder-riven,And up from the rocky steep,There rose a cry to the gate of heaven,"Rejoice, I have found my sheep!"And the angels sang around the throne,"Rejoice for the Lord brings back his own!"

About this hymn

As printed As printed: hymn number «1265» (large, left), title «THE NINETY AND NINE.» centred (condensed capitals with larger initials); under it the epigraph in two lines, «"I say unto you * * there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance."—Luke 15 : 7.» (the two asterisks are the print's mark of omission; old-style figures); on the next line «ELIZABETH C. CLEPHANE.» at the left (words) and «IRA D. SANKEY.» at the right (music), capitals and small capitals, with «(To be sung as a Solo.)» in italic between them. No meter, no reference line and no running head. Stanzas 1 and 2 are interlinear, two lines between the staves of the four systems, numbered «1.» and «2.» in system 1; each is given here in the verse lines of the poem (the staff breaks fall inside the lines), the sixth line twice, as it stands under the notes. «rit.» is printed over the third system (over «on the mountains» / «the road»). Under the music, centred: «By permission.»; then stanzas 3, 4 and 5 as text in two columns divided by a rule, numbered «3», «4», «5» without a point, each in six lines (the sixth is sung twice, as in stanzas 1–2). Two long lines are turned over for want of width and are joined here: «Nor how dark was the night that the Lord / passed through» (stanza 3) and «"Lord, whence are these blood-drops all the / way» (stanza 4). Syllable hyphens are joined («safe - ly», «shel - ter», «a - way», «A - way», «mount - ains», «ten-der», «e - nough», «an-swer»). The print sets a thin space before «;», «:», «?» and «!» («crossed ;», «answer :», «track ? "», «sheep ! "», «own ! "»); it is closed up here, and the curly quotation marks are written straight. Some words stand without a word space («whohad», «goneastray», «themountains»): read normally. In stanza 4 the third line ends with a full point in the print («astray.»), although the sentence runs on into the fourth line. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («Far, far from the gates of gold;—», «to-night», «thunder-riven», «blood-drops»).