Take Thou My Hand, O Father

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Take Thou my hand, O Father, and lead Thou me

Author: Julie von Hausmann; Translator: Herman H. Brueckner
Tune: SO NIMM DENN MEINE HÄNDE
Published in 26 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Piano/Organ
	Six General Hymn Improvisations, Set 2

Representative Text

1 So nimm denn meine Hände
und führe mich
bis an mein selig Ende
und ewiglich!
Ich kann allein nicht gehen,
nicht einen Schritt;
wo du wirst gehn und stehen,
da minn mich mit.

2 In deiner Gnaden hülle
mein schwaches Herz,
und mach es endlich stille
in Freud und Schmerz.
Lass ruhn zu deinen Füßen
dein schwaches Kind;
es will die Augen schließen
und folgen blind.

3 Wenn ich auch gar nichts fühle
von deiner Macht,
du bringst mich doch zum Ziele
auch durch die Nacht.
So minn denn meine Hände
und führe mich
bis an mein selig Ende
und ewiglich!

1 Take thou my hand and lead me;
stay by my side
til in thy joy eternal
I may abide.
Alone I will not wander
one single day.
Be thou my true companion
and with me stay.

2 O cover with thy mercy
my poor, weak heart!
Let ev’ry thought rebellious
from me depart.
Permit thy child to linger
here at thy feet,
and fully trust thy goodness
with faith complete.

3 Though naught of thy great power
may move my soul,
with thee through night and darkness
I reach the goal.
Take, then, my hand and lead me,
stay by my side,
and in thy joy eternal
I shall abide.

Source: Voices Together #631

All representative texts • Compare texts ^ top

Author: Julie von Hausmann

Julie Katharina von Hausmann (born 7 March [O.S. 19 March] 1826 in Riga; died 2 August [O.S. 15 August] 1901 in Võsu, Estonia) was a Baltic German poet, known for the hymn Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me (German: So nimm denn meine Hände) with a melody by Friedrich Silcher. Earlier translations had been made by Herman Brueckner as "O take my hand, dear Father" and Elmer Leon Jorgenson as "Take Thou My Hand, and Lead Me." The hymn has also been translated by Martha D. Lange, whose version appears in the Great Songs of the Church Revised (1986). Julie Hausmann was the daughter of a teacher. She worked for a while as a governess, but due to her ill health she lived with and cared for her father, who had gone blind. After his deat… Go to person page >

Translator: Herman H. Brueckner

Born: March 11, 1866, Grundy County, Iowa (birth name: Herman Heinrich Moritz Brueckner). Died: January 25, 1942, Hebron, Nebraska (funeral held in Beatrice, Nebraska). Buried: St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Waverly, Iowa. After ordination in 1888, Brueckner pastored in Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. He later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University in 1917. In 1926, he joined the faculty of Hebron College in Nebraska. In 1938, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He retired as professor emeritus from Hebron College in 1941. Sources: Erickson, p. 254 Findagrave, accessed 14 Nov 2016 Hustad, p. 213 Stulken, p.… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Take Thou my hand, O Father, and lead Thou me
Title:	Take Thou My Hand, O Father
German Title:	So nimm denn meine Hände
Author:	Julie von Hausmann
Translator:	Herman H. Brueckner
Meter:	7.4.7.4 D
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain