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WHEN FROM THE EAST THE WISE MEN CAME

Scripture Verse

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? Matthew 2:1–2

Introduction

Words: John H. Hop­kins, 1850. Publ­ished in his Po­ems by the Way­side (New York: James Pott, 1883), page 258.

Music: Hop­kins Ed­win G. Monk (1819–1900) (🔊 ).

portrait
John H. Hopkins, Jr.
(1820–1891)

Lyrics

illustration
Adoration of the Magi
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)

When from the East the Ma­gi came,
Led by the Star of Beth­le­hem,
The gifts they brought to Je­sus were
Of gold, and frank­in­cense and myrrh.

Bright gold of Oph­ir, pass­ing fine,
Proclaims a king of roy­al line;
For Da­vid’s son in Da­vid’s town,
Is born the heir of Da­vid’s crown.

The in­cense clouds, with frag­rance rare,
The pre­sence of a God de­clare;
Lo! kings in ado­ra­tion fall,
For Ma­ry’s Son is Lord of all.

The myrrh, with bit­ter taste, fore­shows
A life of sor­rows, wounds, and woes—
The dead­ly cup, that over­ran
With ang­uish for the Son of Man.

Our gold up­on Thine al­tar lies;
Our pray­ers to Thee, as in­cense, rise;
Accept as myrrh our tears and sighs:
O King, O God, O Sac­ri­fice!