Beside an old Judean stream
Me thinks a tired and weary lad
Sat with his mind and eye a gleam
And something in his heart was glad.

Though he had fished so well with care
And though he caught but just a few
Yet he as often knelt in prayer
And now he knew just what to do.

Yet as he rose he felt quite queer
Here with his basket and his fish.
Yet if the Master was that near
This was the answer to his wish.

Beside, it would not take him long
And he must see the Master too,
But when he got there, what a throng,
And someone said Christ seeks for you.

For me?  What could the Master wish?
And I but am a fisher lad?
He surely could not want his fish
For just a few was all he had.

But the disciples say it's true.
And Jesus took the few with care
And Jesus took that laddie too
For he had listened to a prayer,

And Jesus multiplied that food
And fed five thousand for the lad.
And at its close the ground was strewed
With twelve more baskets that were bad.