Scripture Verse

Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Introduction

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James Montgomery (1771–1854)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: James Mont­gom­ery, in The Sun­day School Teach­er’s Ma­ga­zine, and Jour­nal of Edu­ca­tion, Vol­ume 1 (Lon­don: Ri­chard Da­vis, Ja­nu­ary 1830), page 64: “Shef­field, Dec. 1829. J. Mont­go­me­ry.”

Music: Al­leyne J. T. Nick­ens, 1910 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Nick­ens’ full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Sleep, wea­ry world, and take thy rest,
Thy count­less eye­lids close;
Shut all thy cares wit­hin thy breast,
For once in peace re­pose.

Wake, slum­ber­ing world, a mid­night cry
Comes with al­migh­ty breath;
Wake, thy re­demp­tion draw­eth nigh,
Rise from the dust of death.

Yon star, those an­gels, shep­herds, kings,
A birth from Heav’n pro­claim;
God’s on­ly Son thy ran­som brings,
Emanuel is His name.

Gather thy child­ren from afar,
Of climes and tongues un­known;
Show them the sta­ble and the star,
Christ’s man­ger and His throne.

There, with the an­gels, loud and sweet,
All hearts, all voic­es blend;
There, with the shep­herds at His feet,
All knees, all na­tions bend.

There, with the wise men from the east,
Sinners their of­fer­ings bring;
Each at this al­tar be a priest,
And ev­ery priest a king.

For He shall wash them in His blood,
Shall with His robes ar­ray,
And make them kings and priests to God,
Lord Je­sus, haste the day.

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The Star of Bethlehem
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)