1. The foe behind, the deep before,
Our hosts have dared and past the sea:
And Pharaoh's warriors strew the shore,
And Israel's ransomed tribes are free.
2. Lift up, lift up your voices now!
The whole wide world rejoices now!
The Lord hath triumphed gloriously:
The Lord shall reign victoriously!
3. Happy morrow, turning sorrow
Into peace and mirth!
Bondage ending, Love descending
O'er the earth!
Seals assuring, guards securing,
Watch His earthly prison:
Seals are shattered, guards are scattered,
Christ hath risen!
4. No longer must the mourners weep,
Nor call departed Christians dead,
For death is hallowed into sleep,
And every grave becomes a bed.
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5. Now, once more, Eden's door
Open stands to mortal eyes:
For Christ hath risen,
and man shall rise.
Now at last, old things past,
Hope and joy and peace begin:
For Christ hath won,
and man shall win.
6. It is not exile, rest on high:
It is not sadness, peace from strife:
To fall asleep is not to die:
To dwell with Christ is better life.
7. Where our banner leads us, we may safely go.
Where our Chief precedes us, we may face the foe.
His right arm is o'er us, He our guide will be.
Christ hath gone before us: Christians, follow ye!
8. He shall soon deliver from every woe;
Alleluia, if His paths ye tread.
Pleasures, as a river, shall round you flow,
Alleluia, when ye see your Head.
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9. With loins upgirt, and staff in hand,
And hasty mein and sandalled feet,
Around the Paschal feast we stand,
And of the Paschal Lamb we eat.
10. So shall He collect us, direct us,
Protect us, from Egypt's strand:
So shall He precede us, and feed us,
And lead us to Canaan's land.
Toils and foes assailing, friends quailing,
hearts failing, shall threat in vain:
If He be providing, presiding,
And guiding to Him again.
11. Christ our Leader, Monarch, Pleader, Interceder,
Praise we and adore:
Exultation, veneration, gratulation,
Bringing evermore.
12. Once despis'd, and once rejected,
Was this Stone: that now elected,
To a Cornerstone perfected
As a glorious trophy stands erected. Amen.
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English text