CHILDREN, I shall tell a story,
How a long, long time ago,
Lived a lad whose name was Joseph,
And his father loved him so.
Joseph pictures to us Jesus,
Whom the Father loved so well,
Loved Him from eternal ages,
With a love no tongue can tell.
So a coat of many colors
For his son, the father made;
Glad was he to see him wear it,
Glad to see him thus arrayed.
So we know that God the Father,
Gave to His eternal Son,
Glories far beyond our telling;
He, the heaven's beloved One.
Joseph dreamed the sheaves were bowing
To his sheaf, within the field;
When he told it to his brethren
They were angry; would not yield.
Thus the Jews once did to Jesus,
Would not bow to Him the knee,
Cried "away, we will not have Him,"
Nailed Him to the cruel tree.
Joseph, at his father's bidding,
Went to see his brethren dear;
In their hearts they planned to kill him,
When they saw him drawing near.
Jesus, at His Father's bidding
Came from brightest courts on high,
Jew and Gentile would not have Him,
Said that He must surely die.
But they stripped their brother Joseph,
Put him in a pit as well,
Sent him to a far off country;
Sad this story is to tell.
As for Christ, they stripped and mocked Him,
Placed His body in the tomb,
But He rose, and now is living,
Soon to call His people home.
All the time that Joseph's brethren
Thought they'd never see him more,
God was with him, and was blessing
Both in family and in store;
Now to Christ, a Man in glory,
Precious souls are gathered in,
From each tongue, and tribe, and nation,
From all avenues of sin.
Then, when Joseph's brethren saw him
Egypt's lord and ruler too,
How they wept and bowed before him,
Then, at last, his dream came true.
And the day is surely coming
When each knee will have to bow
To the precious name of Jesus—
Grace pleads—bow the knee e'en now.