"No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." John 3:5
Words: William True Sleeper, 1877.
Music: "Born Again," George Coles Stebbins, 1877
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During those meetings, one of the subjects preached upon was the "New Birth." While presenting the truth, enforcing it by referring to various passages of Scripture, Dr. Pentecost quoted our Lord's words to Nicodemus, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, ye must be born again"…It occurred to me that by taking the line "Verily, verily, I say unto thee," from the third verse, and putting it with the line, "Ye must be born again," and by transferring the word "I" from the middle of the first line to the beginning, so it would read, "I verily, verily, say unto thee, Ye must be born again," those passages would then fall into rhythmical form, and by the use of some repetitions could be made available for a musical setting, and also for a chorus to the hymn, if some suitable verses could be found…I spoke to Reverend…Sleeper, one of the pastors of the city who sometimes wrote hymns, of my impression and asked him if he would write me some verses on the subject. He acted at once on my suggestion and soon after came to me with the hymn…Before the meetings closed a musical setting was made.
George C. Stebbins, Memoirs and Reminiscences