English text
The Universal Hallelujah
1. Praise ye the Lord with joyful tongue,
Ye powers that guard his throne;
Jesus, the man, shall lead the song,
The God inspire the tune.
2. Gabriel, and all the immortal choir
That fills the realms above,
Sing; for he formed you of his fire,
And feeds you with his love.
3. Shine to his praise, ye crystal skies,
The floor of his abode;
Or veil your little twinkling eyes
Before a brighter God.
4. Thou restless globe of golden light,
Whose beams create our days,
Join with the silver queen of night,
To own your borrowed rays.
5. Blush, and refund the honors paid
To your inferior names:
Tell the blind world your orbs are fed
By his o'er-flowing flames.
6. Winds, ye shall bear his name aloud
Through the ethereal blue;
For, when his chariot is a cloud,
He makes his wheels of you.
7. Thunder and hail, and fires and storms,
The troops of his command,
Appear, in all your dreadful forms,
And speak his awful hand.
8. Shout to the Lord, ye surging seas,
In your eternal roar;
Let wave to wave resound his praise,
And shore reply to shore;
9. While monsters, sporting on the flood,
In scaly silver shine,
Speak terribly their Maker, God,
And lash the foaming brine.
10. But gentler things shall tune his name
To softer notes than these;
Young zephyrs breathing o'er the stream.
Or whispering through the trees.
11. Wave your tall heads, ye lofty pines,
To him that bade you grow;
Sweet clusters bend the fruitful vines
On every thankful bough.
12. Let the shrill birds his honor raise,
And climb the morning sky;
While groveling beads attempt his praise
In hoarser harmony.
13. Thus, while the meaner creatures sing.
Ye mortals take the sound;
Echo the glories of your King
Through all the nations round.
14. The eternal name must fly abroad
From Britain to Japan;
And the whole race shall bow to God
That owns the name of man.
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English text
VERSION 1. (66. 66. 44. 44.)
Praise to God from all creatures
Ye tribes of Adam, join
With heaven, and earth, and seas,
And offer notes divine
To your Creator's praise:
Ye holy throng
Of angels bright,
In worlds of light,
Begin the song.
Thou sun with dazzling rays,
And moon that rules the night,
Shine to your Maker's praise,
With stars of twinkling light:
His power declare,
Ye floods on high,
And clouds that fly
In empty air.
The shining worlds above
In glorious order stand,
Or in swift courses move,
By his supreme command:
He spake the word,
And all their frame
From nothing came,
To praise the Lord.
He moved their mighty wheels
In unknown ages past,
And each his word fulfills
While time and nature last:
In different ways
His works proclaim
His wondrous name,
And speak his praise.
Let all the earth-born race,
And monsters of the deep
The fish that cleave the seas,
Or in their bosom sleep;
From sea and shore
Their tribute pay,
And still display
Their Maker's power.
Ye vapors, hail, and snow,
Praise ye th' almighty Lord,
And stormy winds that blow,
To execute his word:
When lightnings shine,
Or thunders roar,
Let earth adore
His hand divine.
Ye mountains near the skies,
With lofty cedars there,
And trees of humbler size,
That fruit in plenty bear;
Beasts wild and tame,
Birds, flies, and worms,
In various forms,
Exalt his name.
Ye kings and judges, fear
The Lord, the sovereign King;
And while you rule us here,
His heavenly honors sing;
Nor let the dream
Of power and state
Make you forget
His power supreme.
Virgins and youths, engage
To sound his praise divine,
While infancy and age
Their feebler voices join:
Wide as he reigns
His name be sung
By every tongue
In endless strains.
Let all the nations fear
The God that rules above;
He brings his people near,
And makes them taste his love:
While earth and sky
Attempt his praise,
His saints shall raise
His honors high.
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VERSION 2. (L. M.)
Universal praise to God
Loud hallelujahs to the Lord,
From distant worlds where creatures dwell;
Let heav'n begin the solemn word,
And sound it dreadful down to hell.
The Lord, how absolute he reigns!
Let every angel bend the knee;
Sing of his love in heavenly strains,
And speak how fierce his terrors be.
High on a throne his glories dwell,
An awful throne of shining bliss;
Fly through the world, O sun! and tell
How dark thy beams compared to his.
Awake, ye tempests, and his fame
In sounds of dreadful praise declare;
And the sweet whisper of his name
Fill every gentler breeze of air.
Let clouds, and winds, and waves agree
To join their praise with blazing fire;
Let the firm earth and rolling sea
In this eternal song conspire.
Ye flowery plains, proclaim his skill;
Valleys, lie low before his eye;
And let his praise from every hill
Rise tuneful to the neighboring sky.
Ye stubborn oaks, and stately pines,
Bend your high branches and adore:
Praise him, ye beasts, in different strains;
The lamb must bleat, the lion roar.
Birds, ye must make his praise your theme;
Nature demands a song from you;
While the dumb fish that cut the stream
Leap up, and mean his praises too.
Mortals, can you refrain your tongue,
When nature all around you sings?
O for a shout from old and young,
From humble swains and lofty kings!
Wide as his vast dominion lies
Make the Creator's name be known;
Loud as his thunder shout his praise,
And sound it lofty as his throne.
Jehovah! 'tis a glorious word:
O may it dwell on every tongue!
But saints, who best have known the Lord,
Are bound to raise the noblest song.
Speak of the wonders of that love
Which Gabriel plays on every chord:
From all below, and all above,
Loud hallelujahs to the Lord!
(Note. This Psalm may be sung to the tune of the old 112th or 127th Psalm, if these two lines be added to every stanza:
Each of his works his name displays
But they can ne'er fulfill the praise.)
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VERSION 3 (S. M.)
Universal praise
Let every creature join
To praise th' eternal God;
Ye heavenly hosts, the song begin,
And sound his name abroad.
Thou sun with golden beams,
And moon with paler rays;
Ye starry lights, ye twinkling flames,
Shine to your Maker's praise.
He built those worlds above,
And fixed their wondrous frame;
By his command they stand or move,
And ever speak his name.
Ye vapors, when ye rise,
Or fall in showers of snow;
Ye thunders, murmuring round the skies,
His power and glory show.
Wind, hail, and flashing fire,
Agree to praise the Lord,
When ye in dreadful storms conspire
To execute his word.
By all his works above
His honors be expressed;
But saints that taste his saving love
Should sing his praises best.
Let earth and ocean know
They owe their Maker praise;
Praise him, ye watery worlds below,
And monsters of the seas.
From mountains near the sky
Let his high praise resound;
From humble shrubs and cedars high,
And vales and fields around.
Ye lions of the wood,
And tamer beasts that graze,
Ye live upon his daily food,
And he expects your praise.
Ye birds of lofty wing,
On high his praises bear;
Or sit on flowery boughs, and sing
Your Maker's glory there.
Ye creeping ants and worms,
His various wisdom show,
And flies, in all your shining swarms,
Praise him that dressed you so.
By all the earth-born race
His honors be expressed;
But saints, that know his heavenly grace
Should learn to praise him best.
Monarchs of wide command,
Praise ye th' eternal King;
Judges, adore that sovereign hand
Whence all your honors spring.
Let vigorous youth engage
To sound his praises high:
While growing babes, and with'ring age,
Their feebler voices try.
United zeal be shown
His wondrous fame to raise:
God is the Lord; his name alone
Deserves our endless praise.
Let nature join with art,
And all pronounce him blest;
But saints, that dwell so near his heart,
Should sing his praises best.
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