Metrical 'Old Version' by John Hopkins
English text
Sing ye with praise unto the Lord
New songs with joy and mirth;
Sing unto him with one accord,
All people on the earth.
Yea, sing unto the Lord alway,
Praise ye his holy Name:
Declare and shew from day to day
Salvation by the same.
Among the heathen all declare
His honour round about;
To shew his wonders do not spare
In all the world throughout.
For why? the Lord is great in might,
And worthy of all praise,
And he is to be fear'd of right
Above all gods always.
For all the gods of heathen folk
Are idols that will fade,
Whereas our God, he is the Lord
That heav'n and earth hath made.
All praise and honour also dwell
Ever before his face;
Both pow'r and might likewise excel
Within his holy place.
Ascribe unto the Lord therefore,
All men with one accord,
All might, and worship evermore
Ascribe unto the Lord:
Ascribe unto the Lord also
The glory of his name;
Into his courts with presents go,
And offer there the same.
Fall down and worship ye the Lord,
Within his temple bright;
Let all the people of the world
Be fearful at his sight.
Tell all the world, be not afraid,
The Lord doth reign above,
Yea, he the earth so fast hath stay'd,
That it can never move:
And that it is the Lord alone
That rules with princely might.
To judge the nations ev'ry one
With equity and right.
The heav'ns shall joyfully begin,
The earth likewise rejoice,
The sea with all that is therein
Shall shout and make a noise;
The fields shall joy, and ev'ry thing
That springeth on the earth.
The wood and ev'ry tree shall sing
With gladness and with mirth,
Before the presence of the Lord,
And coming of his might,
When he shall come to judge the world,
And rule his folk with right.
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Paraphrase by Tate and Brady, New Version
English text
Sing to the Lord a new-made song,
Let earth in one assembly throng;
Her common patron's praise resound;
Sing to the Lord and bless His name,
From day to day His praise proclaim,
Who us with His salvation crowned,
To heathen lands his fame rehearse
His wonders to the Universe.
He's great, and greatly to be praised;
In majesty and glory raised
Above all other deities.
For pageantry and idols all
Are they whom gods the heathen call;
He only rules who made the skies,
With majesty and honor crowned,
Beauty and strength his throne surround.
Be therefore both to Him restored
By you, who have false gods adored,
Ascribe due honor to His name;
Peace-offerings on His altar lay.
Before His throne your homage pay.
Which He, and He alone can claim.
To worship at his sacred court
Let all the trembling world resort.
Proclaim aloud, Jehovah reigns,
Whose power the universe sustains.
And banished justice will restore;
Let therefore heaven new joys confess,
And heavenly mirth let earth express.
Its loud applause the ocean roar.
Its mute inhabitants rejoice,
And for this triumph find a voice.
For joy let fertile valleys sing.
The cheerful groves their tribute bring,
The tuneful choir of birds awake,
The Lord's approach to celebrate.
Who now sets out with awful state,
His circuit through the earth to take.
From heaven to judge the world He's come
With justice to reward and doom.
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Metrical paraphrase by Isaac Watts
English text
PART 1 (C. M.)
Sing to the Lord, ye distant lands,
Ye tribes of every tongue;
His new-discovered grace demands
A new and nobler song.
Say to the nations, Jesus reigns,
God's own almighty Son:
His pow'r the sinking world sustains,
And grace surrounds his throne.
Let heav'n proclaim the joyful day,
Joy through the earth be seen;
Let cities shine in bright array,
And fields in cheerful green.
Let an unusual joy surprise
The islands of the sea:
Ye mountains, sink, ye valleys, rise,
Prepare the Lord his way.
Behold he comes, he comes to bless
The nations, as their God;
To shew the world his righteousness,
And send his truth abroad.
But when his voice shall raise the dead,
And bid the world draw near,
How will the guilty nations dread
To see their Judge appear!
PART 2 (88. 88. 88)
Let all the earth their voices raise
To sing the choicest psalm of praise,
To sing and bless Jehovah's name:
His glory let the heathens know,
His wonders to the nations show,
And all his saving works proclaim.
The heathens know thy glory, Lord,
The wondering nations read thy word,
In Britain is Jehovah known:
Our worship shall no more be paid
To gods which mortal hands have made;
Our Maker is our God alone.
He framed the globe, he built the sky,
He made the shining worlds on high,
And reigns complete in glory there:
His beams are majesty and light;
His beauties, how divinely bright!
His temple, how divinely fair!
Come the great day, the glorious hour,
When earth shall feel his saving power,
And barbarous nations fear his name;
Then shall the race of man confess
The beauty of his holiness,
And in his courts his grace proclaim.
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