just saw this, Joe!
The recording I have of this song is by Grandpa and Ramona Jones, on a King (KCD-822) reissue; don't know when they made the original record. Tune is rather different from Sweet By and By; in fact it is most closely approximated by Frank Jenkins' instrumental, Wandering Boy; we've taken to playing Wandering Boy in between verses.
THANKS for posting these lyrics. I love the way the Old Testament story is told in the first verses (with some humor) and then the New Testament lesson in the last verse.