A voice, a heavenly voice I hear

Representative Text

1 A voice, a heavenly voice I hear!
Arise, O soul, come and draw near
To hallow and revere
The day the Lord thy God doth make,
And of the bread of life partake.

2 I come, dear Jesus, at thy word,
A guest unworthy to thy board,
My Saviour and my Lord.
O clothe me with thy righteousness,
My soul with thy salvation bless! A-men.

3 O Lord, who my Redeemer art,
Come thou and purify my heart.
From thee I'll ne'er depart,
But wheresoe'er thou leadest me
In constant faith I'll follow thee.

Amen.

Source: Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America #270

Author: Johan Olaf Wallin

Johan Olaf Wallin was born at Stora Tuna, in 1779, and early displayed his poetical powers. In 1805, and again in 1809, he gained the chief prize for poetry at Upsala. In the latter year he became pastor at Solna; here his ability as a preacher was so striking that he was transferred to Stockholm, in 1815, as "pastor primarius," a title for which we have no exact equivalent. In 1818 he was made Dean of Westeras, and set about the task of editing a revised hymn-book for the whole of Sweden. This task he completed in 1819, and published it as, Den Swenska Psalmboken, af Konungen gillad och stadfästad (The Swedish hymn-book, approved and confirmed by the King). To it he contributed some 150 hymns of his own, besides translations and recasting… Go to person page >

Translator (v. 1): S. M. Hill

(no biographical information available about S. M. Hill.) Go to person page >

Translator (v. 3): Ernst W. Olson

Ernst W. Olson (b. Skane, Sweden, 1870; d. Chicago, IL, 1958) prepared the English translation for the 1925 Hymnal of the Lutheran Augustana Synod. As editor, writer, poet, and translator, Olson made a valuable contribution to Swedish-American culture and to church music. His family immigrated to Nebraska when he was five years old, but he spent much of his life in the Chicago area. Educated at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, he was editor of several Swedish-American newspapers and spent most of his professional career as an editor for the Augustana Book Concern (1911-1949). Olson wrote History of the Swedes in Illinois (1908). He also contributed four original hymns and twenty-eight translations to The Hymnal (1925) of the Evang… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: A voice, a heavenly voice I hear
Swedish Title: Vad Röst, Vad Lfujlig Röst Jag Hör
Author: Johan Olaf Wallin
Translator (v. 1): S. M. Hill
Translator (v. 3): Ernst W. Olson
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

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The Cyber Hymnal #8900
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The Cyber Hymnal #8900

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