1Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,Calling for you and for me;See, on the portals He’s waiting and watchingWatching for you and for me.
Come home, come home,Ye who are weary, come home;Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,Calling, O sinner, come home!
2Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,Pleading for you and for me?Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,Mercies for you and for me?
3Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,Passing from you and from me;Shadows are gathering, death-beds are coming,Coming for you and for me.
4Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,Promised for you and for me;Though we have sinned He has mercy and pardon,Pardon for you and for me.
Text from archive.org. Public domain in the US and UK.
It was sung at the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. (source)
Where it comes in the service
In a Church of England funeral hymns may be sung at any suitable point; the Church's own step-by-step guide places one once everyone has gathered and another after the prayers. At a Catholic funeral Mass there is an entrance song, Communion hymns and a closing hymn at the procession.
In step 5 you can tick exactly which verses to print.
Add Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling to your booklet, typeset in full, with the order of service around it. You can see the whole booklet before paying anything.
Put Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling in my bookletCopyright
Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling is in the public domain in the United States (first published 1880; printed 1895) and in the United Kingdom (author died 1909), so the words can be printed in a booklet without permission or a fee.
Printed here as in the source, except: Rejoined three words the 1895 printing breaks across lines ('mer-/cies', 'com-/ing', 'and/pardon').