Scripture Verse

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. Revelation 19:12

Introduction

Words: Verses 1–6: Mat­thew Bridg­es, The Pas­sion of Je­sus (Lon­don: Ri­chard­son and Son, 1852), pag­es 62–64. Vers­es 7–9: Godf­rey Thring, Hymns and Sac­red Lyr­ics (Lon­don: Hen­ry S. King, 1874), pag­es 75–77.

Music: Dia­de­ma­ta George J. El­vey, Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern 1868 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Bridg­es or Thring (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
George Elvey (1816–1893)
National Portrait Gallery

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Lyrics

Crown Him with ma­ny crowns,
The Lamb up­on His throne.
Hark! How the heav’n­ly an­them drowns
All mu­sic but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee;
And hail Him as thy match­less king
Through all eter­ni­ty!

Crown Him the vir­gin’s son!
The God in­car­nate born,
Whose arm those crim­son tro­phies won
Which now His brow adorn!
Fruit of the mys­tic rose,
As of that rose the stem;
The root whence mer­cy ev­er flows,
The Babe of Beth­le­hem!

Crown Him the Lord of love!
Behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet vi­si­ble ab­ove,
In beau­ty glo­ri­fied:
No an­gel in the sky
Can ful­ly bear that sight,
But down­ward bends his burn­ing eye
At mys­ter­ies so bright!

Crown Him the Lord of peace!
Whose pow­er a scep­ter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease,
Absorbed in pray­er and praise:
His reign shall know no end,
And round His pierc­èd feet
Fair flow­ers of pa­ra­dise ex­tend
Their frag­rance ev­er sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Po­ten­tate of time,
Creator of the roll­ing spheres,
Ineffably sub­lime.
All hail, Re­deem­er, hail!
For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glo­ry shall not fail
Throughout eter­ni­ty.

Crown Him the Lord of Heav’n,
Enthroned in worlds ab­ove,
Crown Him the king to whom is giv’n
The won­drous name of Love.
Crown Him with ma­ny crowns,
As thrones be­fore Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with ma­ny crowns,
For He is king of all.

Crown Him the Son of God,
Before the worlds be­gan,
And ye who tread where He hath trod,
Crown Him the Son of Man;
Who ev­ery grief hath known
That wrings the hu­man breast,
And takes and bears them for His own,
That all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of life,
Who tri­umphed o’er the grave,
And rose vic­tor­ious in the strife
For those He came to save.
His glo­ries now we sing,
Who died, and rose on high,
Who died eter­nal life to bring,
And lives that death may die.

Crown Him the Lord of lords,
Who ov­er all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the in­car­nate Word,
For ran­somed sin­ners slain,
Now lives in realms of light,
Where saints with an­gels sing
Their songs be­fore Him day and night,
Their God, Re­deem­er, king.