What Shall It Profit?

Words:
Johnson Oatman
Music:
J. B. Herbert

Sheet music

  1. 1Not all earth’s gold and silverCan 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?
  2. 2The heaping up of richesTo many seems life’s goal;But in the eager rush for wealth,Forgotten is the soul.What shall it profit a man,What shall it profit a man,If He gain the whole world,And lose his own soul?
  3. 3This solemn question answer;Is worldly gain thy goal?Can fleeting riches be comparedTo an immortal soul?What shall it profit a man,What shall it profit a man,If He gain the whole world,And lose his own soul?

In the hymnals

  • Written in 1916, the words are in 31 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →

Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The sheet music and words are from PDHymns.com. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.

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