Retribution

Judgment slumbered. God in mercy
  Stayed his strong avenging hand;
Sent them priests and sent them prophets,
  But they would not understand.

Judgment lingered; men, grown bolder,
  Gloried in their shame and guilt;
And the blood of God’s poor childrep
  Was as water freely spilt.

Then arose a cry to heaven,
  Deep and startling, sad and wild,
Sadder than the wail of Egypt,
  Mourning for the first-born child.

For the sighing of the needy
  God at length did bare his hand,
And the footsteps of his judgments
  Echoed through the guilty land.

Oh! the terror, grief and anguish;
  Oh! the bitter, fearful strife,
When the judgments of Jehovah
  Pressed upon the nation’s life.

And the land did reel and tremble
  ’Neath the terror of his frown,
For its guilt lay heavy on it,
  Pressing like an iron crown.

As a warning to the nations,
  Bathed in blood and swathed in fire,
Lay the once oppressing nation,
  Smitten by God’s fearful ire.