Scripture Verse

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. Matthew 2:13

Introduction

Words: Ben­ja­min Bed­dome (1717–1795). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Adapt­ed to Pub­lic Wor­ship (Lon­don: Bu­rton & Briggs, 1818), num­ber 45. Flight in­to Egypt.

Music: Can­on­bury, adapt­ed from Nacht­stück, Op­us 23, No. 4, by Ro­bert A. Schu­mann, 1839 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

portrait
Robert A. Schumann
(1810–1856)

Lyrics

illustration
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Luc-Olivier Merson (1846–1920)

The Sav­ior, of the vir­gin born,
Was in a hum­ble man­ger laid,
He, Lord of all, our flesh as­sumed,
By whom the heav’ns and earth were made.

His life the ty­rant Her­od sought,
And ev­ery su­btle art did try;
To wor­ship Him he made pre­tense,
That he the In­fant might des­troy.

But pow­er di­vine His life pre­served,
And now He reigns above the sky;
To Him who once from Her­od fled,
Now mul­ti­tudes for safe­ty fly.