Scripture Verse

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. Jeremiah 31:31

Introduction

portrait
Samuel S. Wesley (1810–1876)

Words: Se­bas­ti­en Bes­nault, in the Pa­ris Bre­vi­ary, 1736 (De­bi­lis ces­sent el­e­men­ta le­gis). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Ro­bert Camp­bell (1814–1868). Pub­lished in An­nus Sanc­tus, Vol­ume 1, ed­it­ed by Or­by Ship­ley (Lon­don & New York: Burns & Oates, 1884), pag­es 34–35.

Music: Mid­dle­ham (Wes­ley) Sam­uel S. Wes­ley, in A Se­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns, by Charles Kem­ble (Lon­don: John F. Shaw, 1864), num­ber 19 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Bes­nault or Camp­bell (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Now ancient shadows flee,
Now night and terror cease;
Thy God, O earth, begins with thee
A covenant of peace.

He who is Light of light,
The true unclouded sun,
Bleeds to remove sad nature’s blight,
From wrongs that we have done.

This day He doth bestow
The first-fruits of that blood,
Which will hereafter richly flow
To be our cleansing flood.

He takes that sacred name
At which we bend the knee;
Oh, how befitting Him who came
Our sacrifice to be.

The Son who gave His blood,
The Fa­ther of our Lord,
The Holy Ghost—one God most good,
For ever be adored.