Holy, Holy, Holy
Words: Reginald Heber, 1826 · Tune "Nicaea": John B. Dykes, 1861 · Public domain
Verse 1
GHoly, holy, holy! CLord God GAlmighty!
GEarly in the Cmorning our Gsong shall rise to D7Thee
GHoly, holy, holy! Cmerciful and Dmighty!
GGod in three EmPersons, Amblessed GTrinity!
Verse 2
GHoly, holy, holy! Call the saints Gadore Thee,
GCasting down their Cgolden crowns Garound the glassy D7sea;
GCherubim and seraphim Cfalling down Dbefore Thee,
GWhich wert, and Emart, and Amevermore shalt be.
Verse 3
GHoly, holy, holy! Cthough the darkness hide Thee,
GThough the eye of Csinful man Thy Gglory may not D7see,
GOnly Thou art holy; Cthere is none Dbeside Thee,
GPerfect in Empower, in Amlove, and Gpurity.
Verse 4
GHoly, holy, holy! CLord God GAlmighty!
GAll Thy works shall Cpraise Thy name, in Gearth, and sky, and D7sea;
GHoly, holy, holy; Cmerciful and Dmighty!
GGod in three EmPersons, Amblessed GTrinity!
Chords in the key of G
- G
- C
- D
- D7
- Em
- Am
About this hymn
- Words
- Reginald Heber, 1823
- Music
- NICAEA, John Bacchus Dykes, 1861
- Meter
- 11.12.12.10
- In
- 1,847 hymnals
- Scripture
- Isaiah 6:1-10, Revelation 4:6-11, Revelation 15:2-4
The story
Reginald Heber wrote this for Trinity Sunday, to be sung alongside the Nicene Creed. The text is dated 1823. He did not live to see it take hold. It reached print in the third edition of a Banbury parish collection in 1826, the year he died, and then in his own book in 1827, put out after his death. The three Holys come straight out of Isaiah 6, the cry of the seraphim. The tune came almost forty years later. John Bacchus Dykes wrote NICAEA in 1861 and named it for the Council of Nicaea and its creed, so the tune name lines up with what the words are already doing.
Where it fits in a service
Often used as an opening hymn, especially on Trinity Sunday or a communion Sunday. It sets a high, steady tone early, before announcements and before the sermon.
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