Scripture Verse

This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24:14

Introduction

portrait
Edward J. Hopkins (1818–1901)

Words: Ben­ja­min Bed­dome (1717–1795). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Adapt­ed to Pub­lic Wor­ship, ed­it­ed by R. Hall (Lon­don: Bur­ton & Briggs, 1817), num­ber 693. Dis­se­mi­na­tion of the Scrip­tures.

Music: Ra­pha­el (Hop­kins) Ed­ward J. Hop­kins, 1862 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

Lyrics

Hail that bliss­ful day ap­proach­ing,
When the sac­red Word shall spread
To the earth’s re­mot­est re­gions,
And to life re­store the dead:
When all na­tions
Shall ack­now­ledge Christ their head.

Precious Bi­ble, what a trea­sure
Is with­in thy pag­es stored,
Sacred pro­mis­es and pre­cepts,
Doctrines wor­thy of the Lord;
Streams of mer­cy
Flowing wide and far abroad.

By their in­flu­ence, the des­ert
Shall become a fer­tile plain,
Buds and blos­soms spread their beau­ties,
Concord there beg­in its reign:
Precious Bi­ble,
May it still new con­quests gain.