Scripture Verse

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me. Isaiah 1:2

Introduction

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Short Hymns, Vol­ume 1 (Bris­tol, Eng­land: E. Far­ley, 1762), num­ber 1046.

Music: Ver­non (In­galls), from Chris­tian Har­mo­ny, by Je­re­mi­ah In­galls, 1805. This ver­sion is from A Com­pi­la­tion of Ge­nu­ine Church Mu­sic, by Jo­seph Funk, 1835 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

Hear, Heav­en and earth, your God’s ap­peal,
Jehovah to His crea­ture cries.
“Angels and men, My jus­tice tell,
When all My storms of ven­geance rise
To plague a vile re­bel­lious race,
Apostates from My rich­est grace.

Children I have nursed up and bred,
Marked with the new, the Chris­tian name,
But lo! the base de­ge­ne­rate seed
Impatient to di­vulge their shame,
Their foul in­gra­ti­tude to prove,
Have spurned the bow­els of My love.