Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The New Year

Traditional

“The New Year” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 407 1920 · historical text
Public domainHymnSacred song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Army and Navy Hymnal, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

MY days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

But thou, O Lord, wilt abide for ever; and thy memorial name unto all generations.

Verse 2

Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou shalt endure;

Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed;

But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

Verse 3

LORD, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:

In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord; how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

Oh satisfy us in the morning with thy lovingkindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us.

And the years wherein we have seen evil.

Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory upon their children,

And let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Credits

Written by Traditional

Traditional words. Historical text published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), “The New Year”

The 1920 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; traditional and anonymous entries are public domain. Pages whose scan quality is below the proofread threshold are held for review.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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