"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so." Genesis 1:9
Words: Charles Coffin, Hymni Sacri, 1736 (Jubes: et, in praeceps aquis); translated from Latin to English by Isaac Williams (The Word Is Given, the Waters Flow) and the compilers of Hymns Ancient and Modern.
Music: "Lincoln," Thomas Ravenscroft, The Whole Booke of Psalmes (London: 1621)
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Thou spakest, Lord, and into one
The floods together flowed;
Freed from its watery veil, the land
Its verdant pastures showed.
O Father, Who the earth has given
Our place of toil to be,
Knit all within its one wide bound
In one true charity.
Strangers and pilgrims here below,
We seek a home above,
Where Thou wilt gather in Thine own
Who live in holy love.
Unloving words, with deeds of ill
And words of angry strife,
Shall never, Lord, Thy glory see,
Nor win the heavenly life.
The earth itself from day to day
Their burden scarce sustains,
And yearns, in travail, to be free
From dark corruption's chains.
Yea, we too groan within ourselves,
And that adoption wait
For which the Holy Spirit's seal
Did us predestinate.
Eternal glory be ascribed
To God, the One in Three,
By Whom is poured into our hearts
The grace of charity.