Can the Leopard change the spots
Woven in his coat of skin?
Can he move those colored dots
Which the world’s attention win?
No; however much he tried,
All his efforts would be vain;
He with spots would still be dyed,
Ev’ry one would yet remain.
Can the sinner—vile within—
Covered o’er with evil blots—
Cleanse himself from shame and sin,
And efface his sinful spots?
Nay; there’s not a thing of earth
That can cleanse a sinner’s stains;
All he tries is nothing worth,
He polluted still remains.
Let me not, then, be enticed
Such a folly to begin;
Nothing but the blood of Christ
E’er can take away my sin.
Washed in His most precious blood,
Which in love did freely flow,
Bathed in that all-cleansing flood,
Whiter I shall be than snow.
ML 08/24/1941