Scripture Verse

The Lord God said unto the serpent…I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.…And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Genesis 3:15–17

Introduction

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James Montgomery
(1771–1854)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: James Mont­go­me­ry (1771–1854). Ap­peared in his Chris­tian Psalm­ist, fourth edi­tion (Glas­gow, Scot­land: Will­iam Coll­ins, 1826), num­ber 490. The curse and the bless­ing.

Music: Duke Street at­trib­ut­ed to John Hat­ton, 1793 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

To Ad­am thus Je­ho­vah spake:
The ground is curs­èd for thy sake;
Thence eat thy bread, and there once more
Become the dust thou wert be­fore.

Serpent, again Je­ho­vah said,
The wo­man’s seed shall bruise thy head,
Yet in the strife thy fu­ry feel,
For thou shalt turn and wound His heel.

He comes—we hail His glo­ri­ous birth,
Who brings the bless­ing back to earth;
Nor Ed­en on­ly, but the Tree
Of life and im­mor­ta­li­ty.