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How good it is for brethren

Representative Text

1 How good it is for brethren
Who know each other well,
In unity together
On this fair earth to dwell!
In unity together
On this fair earth to dwell!

2 As dew from lofty Hermon
Into the valley flows,
So God upon the brethren
His choicest gifts bestows,
So God upon the brethren
His choicest gifts bestows.

3 And thro' them He reneweth
That city fair and free,
Where souls, by sin polluted,
Shall pure and spotless be.
Where souls, by sin polluted,
Shall pure and spotless be.

4 And all the chosen people
Shall there His face behold
And be with Him forever,
One Shepherd and one fold,
And be with Him forever,
One Shepherd and one fold.

Source: American Lutheran Hymnal #643

Author: K. F. G. Wetzel

Wetzel, Karl Friedrich Gottlob, also Wezel; b. 1779 (1780 according to some sources); d. 1819; doctor and poet Go to person page >

Translator: H. Brueckner

Born: March 11, 1866, Grundy County, Iowa (birth name: Herman Heinrich Moritz Brueckner). Died: January 25, 1942, Hebron, Nebraska (funeral held in Beatrice, Nebraska). Buried: St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Waverly, Iowa. After ordination in 1888, Brueckner pastored in Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. He later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University in 1917. In 1926, he joined the faculty of Hebron College in Nebraska. In 1938, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He retired as professor emeritus from Hebron College in 1941. Sources: Erickson, p. 254 Findagrave, accessed 14 Nov 2016 Hustad, p. 213 Stulken, p.… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: How good it is for brethren
German Title: Wie lieblich ist's hienieden
Author: K. F. G. Wetzel
Translator: H. Brueckner (1918)
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances in all hymnals

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)
TextPage Scan

American Lutheran Hymnal #643

The Concordia Hymnal #d128

The Concordia Hymnal #408

The Pioneer Hymnal #d91

TextPage Scan

Wartburg Hymnal #346

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