Scripture Verse

Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. Luke 15:22–24

Introduction

portrait
William Tans’ur (1700–1783)

Words: Chris­tian H. Bat­eman (1813–1889). Ap­peared in his Child­ren’s Hym­nal and Chris­tian Year (Lon­don: John Hodg­es, 1872), num­ber 45.

Music: Ban­gor Will­iam Tan­s’ur, 1734 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

Lyrics

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Return of the Prodigal Son
Pompeo Batoni, 1773

Father and canst Thou me re­ceive,
So deep by sin de­filed?
And canst Thou let the re­bel live
And own Thy wan­der­ing child?

All sin, all rags, just as I am,
My Fa­ther, will I come,
All ov­er guilt, I blush with shame,
And yet through Christ I come.

Thy choic­est robe shall deck me well
Thy smile, my spir­it cheer,
Bright an­gels loud my wel­come tell,
Thy voice dis­perse my fear.

Oh won­drous grace! Oh love di­vine!
That lets the sin­ner live,
Father, re­ceive me now as Thine,
And now Thy wel­come give!