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"Αγιος αγιος αγιος
κυριος ο Θεος ο παντοκρατωρ, ο ην και ο ων και ο ερχομενος."
"Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus, deus omnipotens, qui erat et qui est et qui venturus est"
"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come"
--Revelation 4:8
Holy, Holy, Holy is an old
Christian song, in most of the
hymnals I've got laying around. The words were adapted from
Revelation 4:8-11 by
Reginald Herber in
1826, and the music was written by
John B. Dykes in
1861. There are a few
variations, but this one is by far the most common:
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!1
Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the crystal2 sea;
Cherubim and seraphim fall down before thee,
Who wast3, and art, and evermore shalt be4
Holy, Holy, Holy, though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see;
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in Power, in love and purity
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three persons blessed Trinity!1
1 - sometimes this is changed to "God over all, and blessed eternally!"
2 - I've also seen "around the
glassy sea" (
jm says it's this way in his
methodist hymnal.)
3 - Also often seen "Who wert , and art, and evermore shalt be" (thanks,
byz)
4 - Also "Who was and is and evermore shall be"
A context note: The text from which this was
adapted was originally written in
Koine Greek. In that dialect, repeating something always emphasized it (even it it is negative). Thus "
not never" in
Greek would be translated "absolutely not ever" in
English, and Holy, Holy, Holy would emphasize
God's Holiness, to the most extreme degree allowed
colloquially. To be sure, too, "
Holy" doesn't necessarily mean "good"... It means "set apart".