Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
FREU DICH SEHR, O MEINE SEELE8.7.8.7.7.7.8.8
Words: Olearius (Oelschlaeger), Johann (1611-1684)Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1862Music: FREU DICH SEHR, O MEINE SEELE, Geneva, 1551 from Trente Quatre Pseaumes de David, 1551
Practice player: melody only, played by your browser. The intro is the closing line of the tune, as many churches play it. Melody from the Open Hymnal Project (public domain).
Words
Comfort, comfort ye My people,
Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness,
Mourning 'neath their sorrow's load;
Speak ye to Jerusalem
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover,
And her warfare now is over.
For the herald's voice is crying
In the desert far and near,
Bidding all men to repentance,
Since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way!
Let the valleys rise to meet Him,
And the hills bow down to greet Him.
Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger
He will no more see nor heed.
She has suffered many a day,
Now her griefs have passed away,
God will change her pining sadness
Into ever springing gladness.
Make ye straight what long was crooked,
Make the rougher places plain:
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign,
For the glory of the Lord
O'er the earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token
That His Word is never broken.
Scripture
The Bible passages this hymn draws on, in the King James Version.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Suggested for these Masses
- 1st Sunday of Advent, Year B Nov 29, 2026
- 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year B Dec 6, 2026
- Immaculate Conception Dec 8, 2026
- 1st Sunday of Advent, Year C Nov 28, 2027
- 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C Dec 5, 2027
- 1st Sunday of Advent, Year A Dec 3, 2028
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