1 Now thank we all our God
  
with heart and hands and voices,
  
who wondrous things has done,
  
in whom his world rejoices;
  
who from our mothers' arms
  
has blessed us on our way
  
with countless gifts of love,
  
and still is ours today.
2 O may this bounteous God
  
through all our life be near us,
  
with ever joyful hearts
  
and blessed peace to cheer us,
  
to keep us in his grace,
  
and guide us when perplexed,
  
and free us from all ills
  
of this world in the next.
3 All praise and thanks to God
  
the Father now be given,
  
the Son and Spirit blest,
  
who reign in highest heaven
  
the one eternal God,
  
whom heaven and earth adore;
  
for thus it was, is now,
  
and shall be evermore.
                        
  Martin Rinkart
                          Translated by Catherine Winkworth
                        The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition
  
    <idle musing>
    I encourage you to click through to the biographies of the author and translator of this hymn. The author's biography is a testimony to endurance in the face of plague, war, and threats, while that of the translator is a look at an early activist for women's rights. Well worth your time!
    </idle musing>
 

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