1. One thing I of the Lord desire,
  For all my path hath miry been:
  Be it by water or by fire,
  Oh, make me clean, oh, make me clean!
(Chorus:)
  So wash me, Thou, without, within,
  Or purge with fire, if that must be;
  No matter how, if only sin
  Die out in me, die out in me.
2. I watch to shun the miry way,
  And staunch the springs of guilty thought;
  But, watch and struggle as I may,
  Pure I am not, pure I am not.
3. If clearer vision Thou impart,
  Grateful and glad my soul shall be,
  But yet to have a purer heart
  Is more to me, is more to me.
(Chorus:)
  So wash me, Thou, without, within,
  Or purge with fire, if that must be;
  No matter how, if only sin
  Die out in me, die out in me.
4. Yea, only as this heart is clean
  May larger vision yet be mine,
  For mirrored in the depths are seen
  The things divine, the things divine.