Scripture Verse

They brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord. Luke 2:22

Introduction

Words: John El­ler­ton, 1880, in The Child­ren’s Hymn Book, by Mrs. Car­ey Brock, num­ber 363.

Music: St. Ve­ro­ni­ca Fran­cis H. Champ­neys, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1889 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

portrait
John Ellerton (1826–1893)

Lyrics

illustration
The Presentation of the Temple
Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674)

Hail to the Lord who comes,
Comes to His tem­ple gate;
Not with His an­gel host,
Not in His king­ly state;
No shouts pro­claim Him nigh,
No crowds His com­ing wait.

But, borne up­on the throne
Of Mary’s gen­tle breast,
Watched by her du­te­ous love,
In her fond arms at rest,
Thus to His Fa­ther’s house
He comes, the heav’nly Guest.

There Jo­seph at her side
In re­ver­ent won­der stands,
And, filled with ho­ly joy,
Old Si­me­on in his hands
Takes up the pro­mised Child,
The glory of all lands.

Hail to the great First-born
Whose ran­som price they pay!
The Son be­fore all worlds,
The Child of man to­day,
That He might ran­som us
Who still in bond­age lay.

O Light of all the earth,
Thy child­ren wait for Thee!
Come to Thy tem­ples here,
That we, from sin set free,
Before Thy Fa­ther’s face
May all pre­sent­ed be!