Savior of the Nations, Come

Representative Text

1 Savior of the nations, come;
virgin's Son, make here Thy home!
Marvel now, O heav'n and earth,
that the Lord chose such a birth.

2 Not by human flesh and blood,
but the Spirit of our God,
was the Word of God made flesh-
woman's Offspring, pure and fresh.

3 Wondrous birth! O wondrous Child
of the virgin undefiled!
Tho' by all the world disowned,
still to be in heav'n enthroned.

4 From the Father forth He came
and returneth to the same,
captive leading death and hell-
high the song of triumph swell!

5 Thou, the Father's only Son,
hast o'er sin the vict'ry won.
Boundless shall Thy kingdom be;
when shall we its glories see?

6 Brightly doth Thy manger shine,
glorious is its light divine.
Let not sin o'ercloud this light
ever be our faith thus bright.

7 Praise to God the Father, sing,
praise to God, the Son, our King,
Praise to God the Spirit be
ever and eternally.


Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #228

Author: St. Ambrose

Ambrose (b. Treves, Germany, 340; d. Milan, Italy, 397), one of the great Latin church fathers, is remembered best for his preaching, his struggle against the Arian heresy, and his introduction of metrical and antiphonal singing into the Western church. Ambrose was trained in legal studies and distinguished himself in a civic career, becoming a consul in Northern Italy. When the bishop of Milan, an Arian, died in 374, the people demanded that Ambrose, who was not ordained or even baptized, become the bishop. He was promptly baptized and ordained, and he remained bishop of Milan until his death. Ambrose successfully resisted the Arian heresy and the attempts of the Roman emperors to dominate the church. His most famous convert and disciple w… Go to person page >

Translator: William M. Reynolds

Born: March 4, 1812, Fay­ette Coun­ty, Penn­syl­van­ia. Died: Sep­tem­ber 5, 1876, Oak Park, Il­li­nois. Reynolds was ed­u­cat­ed at Jef­fer­son Coll­ege, Ca­non­sburg, Penn­syl­van­ia, and Luth­er­an Get­tys­burg Sem­in­ary. He was a pro­fes­sor at Penn­syl­van­ia Coll­ege (1833-50); pres­i­dent of Cap­i­tal Un­i­ver­si­ty, Co­lum­bus, Ohio (1850-53); and pres­i­dent of Il­li­nois State Un­i­ver­si­ty (1857-60). He be­came an or­dained Epis­co­pal min­is­ter in 1864, and found­ed the Evan­gel­i­cal Re­view. His last pas­tor­ate was at Christ Church, Har­lem (Oak Park), Il­li­nois, from 1872 un­til his death. Lyrics-- Come, Thou Sav­ior of Our Race Come, Th… Go to person page >

Translator (German): Martin Luther

Luther, Martin, born at Eisleben, Nov. 10, 1483; entered the University of Erfurt, 1501 (B.A. 1502, M.A.. 1503); became an Augustinian monk, 1505; ordained priest, 1507; appointed Professor at the University of Wittenberg, 1508, and in 1512 D.D.; published his 95 Theses, 1517; and burnt the Papal Bull which had condemned them, 1520; attended the Diet of Worms, 1521; translated the Bible into German, 1521-34; and died at Eisleben, Feb. 18, 1546. The details of his life and of his work as a reformer are accessible to English readers in a great variety of forms. Luther had a huge influence on German hymnody. i. Hymn Books. 1. Ellich cristlich lider Lobgesang un Psalm. Wittenberg, 1524. [Hamburg Library.] This contains 8 German h… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Savior of the nations, come, Virgin's Son make here your home
Title: Savior of the Nations, Come
German Title: Nun komm der heiden heiland
Author: St. Ambrose
Translator (German): Martin Luther (1523)
Translator: William M. Reynolds
Meter: 7.7.7.7
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND

NUN KOMM DER HEIDEN HEILAND is a chorale derived from a chant. Among the simplest of the Lutheran repertoire, it is framed by identical lines–l and 4. Sing the entire hymn with antiphonal groups (the practice its original Latin author, Ambrose, strongly promoted). Sing some stanzas in unison and o…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 31 of 31)

A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools #221

Ambassador Hymnal #11

Text

Christian Worship (1993) #2

Text

Christian Worship #301

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #90

Audio

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #263

Gather (3rd ed.) #421

TextPage Scan

Gather Comprehensive #334

Page Scan

Gather Comprehensive, Second Edition #348

Text

Global Praise 3 #121

Text InfoAudio

Glory to God #102

Hymnal #173

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #92

TextPage Scan

Journeysongs (2nd ed.) #321

Text

Lutheran Service Book #332

Text

Moravian Book of Worship #265

One and All Rejoice #171

TextPage Scan

One in Faith #343

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #228

TextPage Scan

Rejoice in the Lord #189

RitualSong (2nd ed.) #498

TextPage Scan

RitualSong #480

The Book of Common Praise of the Reformed Episcopal Church #10

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #5923

The Hymnal 1982 #54

TextPage Scan

The Presbyterian Hymnal #14

Audio

The United Methodist Hymnal #214

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #316

Voices Together #214

TextPage Scan

Worship (3rd ed.) #372

Worship (4th ed.) #388

Include 13 pre-1979 instances
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