In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
Words: Emperor Justinian (483–565) (Ὁ μονογενὴς ϒιός). Translated from Greek to English by Thomas A. Lacey in The English Hymnal (London: Oxford University Press, 1906), number 325.
Music: Song 24 (Gibbons) Orlando Gibbons, 1623 (🔊 pdf nwc).
O Word immortal of eternal God,
Only begotten of the only source,
For our salvation stooping to the course
Of human life, and born of Mary’s blood.
In equal honor with the Holy Ghost,
And with th’eternal Father glorified.
Sprung from the ever virgin womanhood
Of her who bare Thee, God immutable,
Incarnate, made as man with man to dwell,
And condescending to the bitter rood;
In equal honor with the Holy Ghost,
And with th’eternal Father glorified.
Save us, O Christ, our God, for Thou hast died
To save Thy people to the uttermost,
And dying tramplest death in victory;
One of the ever blessèd Trinity,
In equal honor with the Holy Ghost,
And with th’eternal Father glorified.