What Shall It Profit?

Not all earth’s gold and sil­ver

Can make a sin­ner whole;

What shall it pro­fit thee

O man

If thou should’st lose thy soul?

What shall it pro­fit a man

What shall it pro­fit a man

If He gain the whole world

And lose his own soul?

The heap­ing up of rich­es

To ma­ny seems life’s goal;

But in the ea­ger rush for wealth

Forgotten is the soul.

This so­lemn quest­ion an­swer:

Is world­ly gain thy goal?

Can fleet­ing rich­es be com­pared

To an im­mor­tal soul?