Citation, lyrics and music are copied from The Cyber Hymnal and are public domain. Midi file is modified to piano only. Lyrics may be modified for doctrinal accuracy. This version is not copyrighted. If you find it a blessing, please feel free to use it. — In Christ, Paul W. Davis
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40)
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
| Words: Martin Luther, 1524 (Dies sind die heil’gen zehn Gebot’); translated from German to English by Richard Massie, 1854. Music: “Dies Sind die Heil’gen“, German melody, circa 1200. (midi, mp3) |
Listen to the hymn melody |
God did these Ten Commandments give
By His true servant Moses, high
Upon the Mount Sinai.
Have mercy, Lord!
I am thy God and Lord alone,
No other God before Me own;
Put thy whole confidence in Me
And love Me e’er cordially.
Have mercy, Lord!
By idle word and speech profane
Take not My holy Name in vain
And praise but that as good and true
Which I Myself say and do.
Have mercy, Lord!
Hallow the day which God hath blest
That thou and all thy house may rest;
Keep hand and heart from labor free
That God may so work in thee.
Have mercy, Lord!
Give to thy parents honor due,
Be dutiful, and loving, too,
And help them when their strength decays,
So shalt thou have length of days.
Have mercy, Lord!
Kill thou not out of evil will,
Nor hate, nor render ill for ill;
Be patient and of gentle mood,
And to thy foe do thou good.
Have mercy, Lord!
Be faithful to thy marriage vows,
Thy heart give only to thy spouse;
Thy life keep pure, and lest thou sin,
Use temperance and discipline.
Have mercy, Lord!
Steal not; oppressive acts abhor;
Nor wring their life blood from the poor;
But open wide thy loving hand
To all the poor in the land.
Have mercy, Lord!
Bear not false witness nor belie
Thy neighbor by foul calumny.
Defend his innocence from blame;
With charity hide his shame.
Have mercy, Lord!
Thy neighbor’s house desire thou not,
His wife, nor aught that he hath got,
But wish that his such good may be
As thy heart doth wish for thee.
Have mercy, Lord!
God these commandments gave therein
To show thee, child of man, thy sin
And make thee also well perceive
How man unto God should live.
Have mercy, Lord!
Help us, Lord Jesus Christ, for we
A Mediator have in Thee.
Our works cannot salvation gain;
They merit but endless pain.
Have mercy, Lord!