Scripture Verse

He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. Psalm 147:4

Introduction

Words: J. Wil­helm Hey, Fa­beln für Kin­der, se­cond ser­ies, 1837 (Weißt du, wie viel Stern­lein ste­hen?). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by John H. W. Dulck­en (vers­es 1 & 3); trans­lat­or of verse 2 is un­known.

Music: Ger­man tune (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Dulck­en (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
J. Wilhelm Hey (1789–1854)

Lyrics

Can you count the stars that bright­ly
Twinkle in the mid­night sky?
Can you count the clouds, so light­ly
O’er the mea­dows float­ing by?
God, the Lord, doth mark their num­ber,
With His eyes that ne­ver slum­ber
He hath made them ev­ery one,
He hath made them ev­ery one.

Can you count the wings now flash­ing
In the sun­shine’s gold­en light?
Can you count the fish­es splash­ing
In the cool­ing wa­ters bright?
God, the Lord, a name hath giv­en,
To all crea­tures un­der Hea­ven;
He hath named them ev­ery one,
He hath named them ev­ery one.

Do you know how ma­ny child­ren
Rise each morn­ing blithe and gay?
Can you count their jol­ly voic­es,
Singing sweet­ly day by day?
God hears all the hap­py voic­es,
In their mer­ry songs re­joic­es;
And He loves them, ev­ery one
And He loves them, ev­ery one.