1 The future belongs to the children,
Though much to the past we owe,
Though much may be done in the present;
We stay when the old people go.
The vision God gave to our fathers
Is coming to us in our turn;
And at the first gleam of its splendor
Our hearts are beginning to burn.

Refrain:
It is stage by stage to the golden age,
To the golden age,
It is stage by stage to the golden age,
Far off we seem to view it;
But the good we crave wilt come to the brave
Who see God's will and do it.

2 Around us are wrongs and misdoings,
And struggle, and suff'ring, and woe;
The helpless are needing a champion,
The tempted are pressed by the foe;
And children are foully neglected,
They even are thrust into sin;
And the knights of the good Lord Jesus
Have many a battle to win. [Refrain]

3 The promise belongs to the children,
Saith One who is faithful and true
A promise of welfare and blessing,
Which God to the young doth renew:
Its glimmer is cleaving the darkness;
We know that the day is begun;
And cloudland is tinged with the glory
That tells of the might of the sun. [Refrain]