1.
Come, celebrate your God and King;
Awake the song, awake the string;
With awful rev'rence own his name;
His pow'r invoke, his praise proclaim.
2.
Aloud declare, through ev'ry Land,
The Wonders of his mighty hand;
And let his Name your thought employ;
His Name, sit theme of highest joy:
3.
Such joy may each for ever share,
Whose steps to Salem 's Fane repair:
O frequent seek that blest Abode,
O seek the face of Jacob 's God.
4.
The Acts of Heav'n's Almighty Lord
Let Israel 's thankful Sons record;
Ye Seed of Abraham , his Friend,
With joy to his Commands attend.
5.
To You his presence stands confest;
His judgments Earth's wide Realms attest:
His Promise kind, and wise Decree,
Though Man forget, yet will not He;
6.
The Oath confirm'd through periods past,
And doom'd to latest times to last;
To Terah 's Son, to Isaac , made,
And thus to Jacob 's hands convey'd:
7.
" Arise, thou favour'd of thy God,
" And claim the Gift by Him bestow'd:
" Behold thy Sons their wide command
" Extend o'er Canaan 's fertile Land. "
8.
But when? or how? Their number view;
(It asks no toil;) a helpless Few,
And Strangers there, doom'd long to roam,
And seek through distant climes a home.
9.
Yet, privileg'd by Him from wrong,
Secure the Exiles march along:
Kings hear his dread reproof, nor dare
To hurt whom God has bid to spare.
10.
" Touch, touch not These; for on their heads
" My hand the sacred unction sheds:
" Your eyes in Them my Prophets see;
" And what they speak, they speak from Me. "
11.
He calls; and on the cultur'd ground
Life's needful staff no more is found,
While Drought, incumbent o'er the plain,
Checks in mid growth the rip'ning grain.
12.
Yet Mercy still his Wrath outran;
Thy shores, O Nile , receive the Mar,
Ordain'd the chosen Race to save,
Thy future Lord, though now thy Slave.
13.
What though, his feet in fetters bound,
His soul th' afflicting irons wound,
Though various griefs around him wait
Through kindred envy, wrath, and hate; —
14.
Yet, Joseph , patient bear thy lot:
Thy lips, with heav'nly science fraught,
Shall soon the mystic Dream explain,
That ends thy woes, and breaks thy chain.
15.
The Monarch bids; the prison door
Detains the injur'd Saint no more;
But through succeeding Life he gains
A full exemption from his pains.
16.
New honours now his wrongs repair;
The regal Palace to his care
Its wealth consigns; and Egypt 's land
Bows to her Captive's wife command.
17.
Ev'n Princes own'd with rev'rent awe
The dictates of his will their Law,
And Senates on his youthful tongue
In silent wonder list'ning hung.
18.
He sends; and lo, oppress'd with years,
Jacob on Mizraim 's Coast appears;
Th' illustrious Pilgrim's wearied feet
In Egypt fix their last retreat.
19.
With large increase his Line is blest,
And Zoan in th' adopted Guest
With hostile eye beholds up-grown
A strength superior to her own.
20.
See hence the woes on Egypt pour'd!
(But Thou, O Monarch, shouldst thy word
Absolve, nor thus with impious rod
Oppress the Servants of thy God.)
21.
See Moses , pleading, stretch the hand;
See Aaron lift the sacred wand,
And lead th' invited vengeance on
In scenes to Nature's Laws unknown.
22.
But O, what terrors; Cham , are thine,
While quick on thy devoted Line,
Far as thy utmost coasts extend,
Thou seest the various pest descend!
23.
If Fear their stubborn hearts may melt,
Let Darkness, Darkness to be felt,
Inclose their Land, and o'er their head
Its melancholy mantle spread.
24.
Thus, thus th' Almighty Monarch spake;
As forth the awful accents brake,
Darkness the high behest obey'd,
And round them wrapt its thickest shade.
25.
The Heav'n struck Nile 's extended flood
Now rolls a current black with blood:
While breathless on their oozy bed
In heaps the finny tribes are spread.
26.
The loathsome Frog a num'rous Birth,
Springs instant from the teeming earth,
Nor walls that guard a Monarch's rest
Know to exclude the hideous guest.
27.
He bids; and through the darken'd air
In troops th' assembling Flies repair,
And swarms of Reptiles scatter'd wide,
Rebuke the faithless Tyrant's pride
28.
In league against them now conspire
The rushing Hail, and bick'ring Fire:
And, instant by the tempest torn,
Their ruin'd shades the forests mourn:
29.
No more array'd in native green
The fig-tree and the vine are seen,
No more with flow'ring honours crown'd,
But useless load th' incumber'd ground
30.
He bids; and join'd in close array
Th' embattled Locusts take their way:
Before them plains with verdure grac'd
Appear; behind a barren waste:
31.
While the dun Beetle through the sky
With eager speed is seen to fly,
And, partner in the offer'd spoil,
Consumes th' astonish'd planter's toil.
32.
Now to the grave with anguish torn,
Each Mother yields her eldest-born;
And Egypt 's land, along its shores,
The first-fruits of its strength deplores.
33.
Now, Israel , shines the day to Thee
That bids thy captive Sons go free:
Rise, quickly rise; for in their ear
Thy Sons the voice of Freedom hear:
34.
The wealth of their relenting foes
Earth's sov'reign Lord on Them bestows
And bids them leave the hostile soil,
Each strong for travel, strong for toil.
35.
As now their destin'd path they tread,
Egypt , yet pale with recent dread,
Exulting sees the sacred Band
With parting footsteps press her strand.
36.
Expanded wide above their heads
The shadowing Cloud its curtain spreads;
Before them walks th' embodied Fire,
And bids the shades of night retire.
37.
His hand indulgent from on high
Yields to their wants the wish'd supply;
Quails on their appetite bestow'd,
And Bread ethereal, give them food;
38.
While, at his word, from out the rock
Th' imprison'd streams luxuriant broke,
And onward pour'd with lengthen'd train,
Ran murm'ring o'er the thirsty plain.
39.
Such Mercies, All-indulgent Lord,
Thy changeless promises afford,
Such Blessings thy remembrance kind
Of Abraham 's ever faithful mind.
40.
Redeem'd from stern Oppression's seat,
With grateful joy their bosoms beat;
With such as ev'ry heart o'erflows
When rescu'd from its cruel foes;
41.
Joy, yet enlarg'd, when Canaan 's Land
Resigns her scepter to their hand,
And bids them reap from off her soil
The harvest of another's toil.
42.
Behold the Love to Israel shown,
That We, great God, thy pow'r might own,
And each with stedfast heart fulfil
The dictates of thy mighty Will.
43.
Awake the song, awake the string,
And thankful praise th' immortal King,
And, faithful Heralds to his fame,
To distant Lands his praise proclaim.
Come, celebrate your God and King;
Awake the song, awake the string;
With awful rev'rence own his name;
His pow'r invoke, his praise proclaim.
2.
Aloud declare, through ev'ry Land,
The Wonders of his mighty hand;
And let his Name your thought employ;
His Name, sit theme of highest joy:
3.
Such joy may each for ever share,
Whose steps to Salem 's Fane repair:
O frequent seek that blest Abode,
O seek the face of Jacob 's God.
4.
The Acts of Heav'n's Almighty Lord
Let Israel 's thankful Sons record;
Ye Seed of Abraham , his Friend,
With joy to his Commands attend.
5.
To You his presence stands confest;
His judgments Earth's wide Realms attest:
His Promise kind, and wise Decree,
Though Man forget, yet will not He;
6.
The Oath confirm'd through periods past,
And doom'd to latest times to last;
To Terah 's Son, to Isaac , made,
And thus to Jacob 's hands convey'd:
7.
" Arise, thou favour'd of thy God,
" And claim the Gift by Him bestow'd:
" Behold thy Sons their wide command
" Extend o'er Canaan 's fertile Land. "
8.
But when? or how? Their number view;
(It asks no toil;) a helpless Few,
And Strangers there, doom'd long to roam,
And seek through distant climes a home.
9.
Yet, privileg'd by Him from wrong,
Secure the Exiles march along:
Kings hear his dread reproof, nor dare
To hurt whom God has bid to spare.
10.
" Touch, touch not These; for on their heads
" My hand the sacred unction sheds:
" Your eyes in Them my Prophets see;
" And what they speak, they speak from Me. "
11.
He calls; and on the cultur'd ground
Life's needful staff no more is found,
While Drought, incumbent o'er the plain,
Checks in mid growth the rip'ning grain.
12.
Yet Mercy still his Wrath outran;
Thy shores, O Nile , receive the Mar,
Ordain'd the chosen Race to save,
Thy future Lord, though now thy Slave.
13.
What though, his feet in fetters bound,
His soul th' afflicting irons wound,
Though various griefs around him wait
Through kindred envy, wrath, and hate; —
14.
Yet, Joseph , patient bear thy lot:
Thy lips, with heav'nly science fraught,
Shall soon the mystic Dream explain,
That ends thy woes, and breaks thy chain.
15.
The Monarch bids; the prison door
Detains the injur'd Saint no more;
But through succeeding Life he gains
A full exemption from his pains.
16.
New honours now his wrongs repair;
The regal Palace to his care
Its wealth consigns; and Egypt 's land
Bows to her Captive's wife command.
17.
Ev'n Princes own'd with rev'rent awe
The dictates of his will their Law,
And Senates on his youthful tongue
In silent wonder list'ning hung.
18.
He sends; and lo, oppress'd with years,
Jacob on Mizraim 's Coast appears;
Th' illustrious Pilgrim's wearied feet
In Egypt fix their last retreat.
19.
With large increase his Line is blest,
And Zoan in th' adopted Guest
With hostile eye beholds up-grown
A strength superior to her own.
20.
See hence the woes on Egypt pour'd!
(But Thou, O Monarch, shouldst thy word
Absolve, nor thus with impious rod
Oppress the Servants of thy God.)
21.
See Moses , pleading, stretch the hand;
See Aaron lift the sacred wand,
And lead th' invited vengeance on
In scenes to Nature's Laws unknown.
22.
But O, what terrors; Cham , are thine,
While quick on thy devoted Line,
Far as thy utmost coasts extend,
Thou seest the various pest descend!
23.
If Fear their stubborn hearts may melt,
Let Darkness, Darkness to be felt,
Inclose their Land, and o'er their head
Its melancholy mantle spread.
24.
Thus, thus th' Almighty Monarch spake;
As forth the awful accents brake,
Darkness the high behest obey'd,
And round them wrapt its thickest shade.
25.
The Heav'n struck Nile 's extended flood
Now rolls a current black with blood:
While breathless on their oozy bed
In heaps the finny tribes are spread.
26.
The loathsome Frog a num'rous Birth,
Springs instant from the teeming earth,
Nor walls that guard a Monarch's rest
Know to exclude the hideous guest.
27.
He bids; and through the darken'd air
In troops th' assembling Flies repair,
And swarms of Reptiles scatter'd wide,
Rebuke the faithless Tyrant's pride
28.
In league against them now conspire
The rushing Hail, and bick'ring Fire:
And, instant by the tempest torn,
Their ruin'd shades the forests mourn:
29.
No more array'd in native green
The fig-tree and the vine are seen,
No more with flow'ring honours crown'd,
But useless load th' incumber'd ground
30.
He bids; and join'd in close array
Th' embattled Locusts take their way:
Before them plains with verdure grac'd
Appear; behind a barren waste:
31.
While the dun Beetle through the sky
With eager speed is seen to fly,
And, partner in the offer'd spoil,
Consumes th' astonish'd planter's toil.
32.
Now to the grave with anguish torn,
Each Mother yields her eldest-born;
And Egypt 's land, along its shores,
The first-fruits of its strength deplores.
33.
Now, Israel , shines the day to Thee
That bids thy captive Sons go free:
Rise, quickly rise; for in their ear
Thy Sons the voice of Freedom hear:
34.
The wealth of their relenting foes
Earth's sov'reign Lord on Them bestows
And bids them leave the hostile soil,
Each strong for travel, strong for toil.
35.
As now their destin'd path they tread,
Egypt , yet pale with recent dread,
Exulting sees the sacred Band
With parting footsteps press her strand.
36.
Expanded wide above their heads
The shadowing Cloud its curtain spreads;
Before them walks th' embodied Fire,
And bids the shades of night retire.
37.
His hand indulgent from on high
Yields to their wants the wish'd supply;
Quails on their appetite bestow'd,
And Bread ethereal, give them food;
38.
While, at his word, from out the rock
Th' imprison'd streams luxuriant broke,
And onward pour'd with lengthen'd train,
Ran murm'ring o'er the thirsty plain.
39.
Such Mercies, All-indulgent Lord,
Thy changeless promises afford,
Such Blessings thy remembrance kind
Of Abraham 's ever faithful mind.
40.
Redeem'd from stern Oppression's seat,
With grateful joy their bosoms beat;
With such as ev'ry heart o'erflows
When rescu'd from its cruel foes;
41.
Joy, yet enlarg'd, when Canaan 's Land
Resigns her scepter to their hand,
And bids them reap from off her soil
The harvest of another's toil.
42.
Behold the Love to Israel shown,
That We, great God, thy pow'r might own,
And each with stedfast heart fulfil
The dictates of thy mighty Will.
43.
Awake the song, awake the string,
And thankful praise th' immortal King,
And, faithful Heralds to his fame,
To distant Lands his praise proclaim.