From Egypt lately come

Representative Text

1 From Egypt lately come,
  Where death and darkness reign,
We seek our new, our better Home,
  Where we our rest shall gain.
           Alleluia!
  We are on our way to God!

2 To Canaan's sacred bound
  We hast with songs of joy,
Where peace and liberty are found,
  And sweets that never cloy.
           Alleluia!
  We are on our way to God!

3 There sin and sorrow cease,
  And every conflict's o'er;
There we shall dwell in endless peace,
  And never hunger more.
           Alleluia!
  We are on our way to God!

4 There, in celestrial strains,
  Enraptured myriads sing;
There love in every bosom reigns,
  For God Himself is King.
           Alleluia!
  We are on our way to God!

5 We soon shall join the throng,
  Their pleasures we shall share,
And sing the everlasting song,
  With all the ransomed there.
           Alleluia!
  We are on our way to God!

6 How sweet the prospect is!
  It cheers the pilgrim's breast!
We're journeying through the wilderness,
  But soon shall gain our rest!
           Alleluia!
  We are on our way to God!


Source: The Evangelical Hymnal with Tunes #392

Author: Thomas Kelly

Kelly, Thomas, B.A., son of Thomas Kelly, a Judge of the Irish Court of Common Pleas, was born in Dublin, July 13, 1769, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was designed for the Bar, and entered the Temple, London, with that intention; but having undergone a very marked spiritual change he took Holy Orders in 1792. His earnest evangelical preaching in Dublin led Archbishop Fowler to inhibit him and his companion preacher, Rowland Hill, from preaching in the city. For some time he preached in two unconsecrated buildings in Dublin, Plunket Street, and the Bethesda, and then, having seceded from the Established Church, he erected places of worship at Athy, Portarlington, Wexford, &c, in which he conducted divine worship and preached. H… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: From Egypt lately come
Author: Thomas Kelly
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

From Egypt lately come. T. Kelly. [Seeking a Better Country.] First published in his Collection of Psalms & Hymns extracted from Various Authors, with an Appendix, 1802, No. 250, in 7 stanzas of 6 lines. It was repeated in the numerous editions of his Hymns on Various Passages of Scripture, &c, from the first, 1804, to the latest, 1853. It is rarely given in its original and full form. The version, "From Egypt's bondage come," appeared in Cotterill’s Selection, 8th edition, 1819, and was repeated in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825. It came into general use, and is a popular form of the hymn. Other altered texts are in Bickersteth's Christian Psalmody, 1833; Hall's Mitre, 1836; the Society for Promoting Christian Knolwedge Church Hymns, 1871, &c. These begin with the same first line as in Cotterill, but differ somewhat in the body of the text. The same differences are repeated in the American collections, but most of these are in error as to date. In a few hymn-books the hymn opens with stanza ii., "To Canaan's sacred bound," as in the Marylebone Psalms & Hymns, 1851.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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