Traditional: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

True Religion

Traditional

“True Religion” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Traditional: Collected Lyrics Text 411 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

THUS saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,

Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these.

For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; If ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;

If ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood,

Neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:

Then will I cause you to dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, even for evermore.

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal,

And walk after other gods that ye have not known,

And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered?

Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?

Verse 2

WHAT unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith the Lord:

I have had enough of the burnt-offering of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;

And I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me;

New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with iniquity and the solemn meeting.

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth;

They are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you;

Yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear:

Your hands are full of blood.

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes;

Cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed,

Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

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), “True Religion”

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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