Scripture Verse

He…showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven…it shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel. Revelation 21:10–11

Introduction

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John B. Dykes (1823–1876)

Words: Fe­lix Ad­ler, 1878.

Music: Sanc­tu­ary (Dykes) John B. Dykes, in the Ang­li­can Hymn Book, 1871 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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Felix Adler (1851–1933)

Background

First pub­lished in the Pil­grim Hym­nal, 1904. The lyr­ics have spe­cial sig­ni­fi­cance, com­ing from a Jew­ish pro­fess­or of So­cial Eth­ics, son of a rab­bi.

The words par­al­lel the vi­sion of the New Je­ru­sa­lem that John re­ceived on the is­land of Pat­mos, re­cord­ed in the Book of Re­ve­la­tion.

Lyrics

Hail the glo­ri­ous gold­en city,
Pictured by the seers of old!
Everlasting light shines o’er it,
Wondrous tales of it are told:
Only right­eous men and wo­men
Dwell with­in its gleam­ing wall;
Wrong is ban­ished from its bor­ders,
Justice reigns su­preme o’er all.

We are build­ers of that ci­ty,
All our joys and all our groans
Help to rear its shin­ing ram­parts;
All our lives are build­ing stones:
Whether hum­ble or ex­alt­ed,
All are called to task di­vine;
All must aid alike to carry
Forward one sub­lime de­sign.

And the work that we have build­ed,
Oft with bleed­ing hands and tears,
Oft in er­ror, oft in ang­uish,
Will not per­ish with our years:
It will live and shine trans­figured,
In the fi­nal reign of right;
It will pass in­to the splendors
Of the ci­ty of the light.