Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice
Luther's first great hymn, and it is a story with dialogue in it.
The words
In church you’ll sing updated words from hymn 594. These are the older words, and most lines are the same.
Dear Christians one and all rejoice, With exultation springing, And, with united heart and voice And holy rapture singing, Proclaim the wonders God hath done, How His right arm the vict'ry won; Right dearly it hath cost Him.
Fast bound in Satan's chains I lay, Death brooded darkly o'er me, Sin was my torment night and day, In sin my mother bore me; Deeper and deeper still I fell, Life had become a living hell, So firmly sin possessed me.
My good works so imperfect were, They had no power to aid me; My will God's judgments could not bear, Yea, prone to evil made me: Grief drove me to despair, and I Had nothing left me but to die; To hell I fast was sinking.
Then God beheld my wretched state With deep commiseration; He thought upon His mercy great, And willed my soul's salvation; He turned to me a Father's heart; Not small the cost! to heal my smart, He gave His best and dearest.
He spoke to His beloved Son: 'Tis time to take compassion: Then go, bright Jewel of my crown, And bring to man salvation; From sin and sorrow set him free, Slay bitter death for him, that he May live with Thee forever.
The Son obeyed right cheerfully, And, born of virgin mother, Came down upon the earth to me, That He might be my brother: His mighty power doth work unseen, He came in fashion poor and mean, And took the devil captive.
He sweetly said, 'Hold fast by Me, I am thy Rock and Castle, Thy Ransom I myself will be, For thee I strive and wrestle:' For I am with thee, I am thine And evermore thou shalt be mine, The foe shall not divide us.
The foe shall shed my precious blood, Me of my life bereaving; All this I suffer for thy good, Be steadfast and believing: Life shall from death the vict'ry win, My innocence shall bear thy sin, So art thou blest forever.
Now to my Father I depart, From earth to heaven ascending, Thence heavenly wisdom to impart, The Holy Spirit sending: He shall in trouble comfort thee, Teach thee to know and follow me, And to the truth conduct thee.
What I have done and taught, teach thou, My ways forsake thou never, So shall my kingdom flourish now, And God be praised, forever: Take heed lest men with base alloy The heavenly treasure should destroy; This counsel I bequeath thee.
As printed in Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal (Ohio Synod, 1880), no. 250. Public domain: free to print, copy and share.
Old words in this hymn
- Thee, Thou
- you (speaking to one person, often to God)
- Thy, Thine
- your, yours
- Hath, Hast
- has, have
- Doth, Dost
- does, do
- Art
- are, as in “Thou art”, you are
- Wilt, Shalt
- will, shall
- ’Tis
- it is
- O’er
- over
- Yea
- yes, indeed
About this hymn
This is not a hymn of ideas. It has a plot. It opens with a man in real trouble, moves to a conversation between the Father and the Son about what to do about him, and ends with the Son speaking directly to him in the first person.
The doctrine of justification is in here entire, but nobody has to know that word to follow it. It works as narrative first, which is why it taught a largely illiterate church its theology faster than any treatise did.
Good in Lent, good at a baptism, good any Sunday somebody needs to hear the thing said from beginning to end.
For musicians and planners
| Words | Martin Luther, 1523 | Public domain |
|---|---|---|
| Translation | Richard Massie | Public domain |
| Tune | NUN FREUT EUCH · Unknown (first printed in Etlich christlich Lieder, Wittenberg, 1524), 1524 | Public domain |
Checked 2026-09-27 against Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal (Ohio Synod, 1880), no. 250, via hymnary.org page scans (pp. 225-227); cross-checked word for word against Hymnal and Order of Service (Augustana Synod, 1901), no. 267a, hymnary.org transcription
Hymn numbers checked against Hymnary.org’s index of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Full record: Hymnary.