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Alas! by nature how depraved

Book 2, Hymn 29 · John Newton · Public-domain words

The words

  1. Stanza 1. Alas! by nature how depraved,How prone to every ill!Our lives, to Satan, how enslaved,How obstinate our will!

  2. Stanza 2. And can such sinners be restored,Such rebels reconciled?Can grace itself the means affordTo make a foe a child?

  3. Stanza 3. Yes, grace has found the wondrous meansWhich shall effectual prove;To cleanse us from our countless sins,And teach our hearts to love.

  4. Stanza 4. Jesus for sinners undertakes,And died that we may live;His blood a full atonement makes,And cries aloud, “Forgive.”

  5. Stanza 5. Yet one thing more must grace provide,To bring us home to God;Or we shall slight the LORD, who died,And trample on his blood.

  6. Stanza 6. The holy Spirit must revealThe Savior’s work and worth;Then the hard heart begins to feelA new and heavenly birth.

  7. Stanza 7. Thus bought with blood, and born again,Redeemed, and saved, by graceRebels, in God’s own house obtainA son’s and daughter’s place.

Olney Hymns (1779), Book 2, Hymn 29. John Newton. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/2-29

About these words

John Newton lived from 1725 to 1807. These historical words are public domain.

This hymn belongs to the complete three-book collection first published in 1779.

The CCEL transcription modernizes spelling and some punctuation. Read this hymn at the source. Checked 23 October 2026.

No sheet music or recordings are included. This web collection is separate from the PrayLock iPhone app.

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