And shall we think it strange, or new

And shall we think it strange, or new,
That wicked men revile the good,
With cruel enmity pursue,
And thirst to drink the martyrs blood?
Who most possess of Jesus mind,
And truth, and meek benev’lent love,
Shall most of Jesus treatment find,
And gain the brightest crown above.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him.’—[John 5,] v. 16." This hymn appears in the 1763-64 manuscript “MS John.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/573, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), page 235.
Publishing: Public Domain