25

We Were Pharaoh’s Bondmen

I

Beneath the tyrant Satan’s yoke
Our souls were long opprest,
Till grace our galling fetters broke,
And gave the weary rest.

II

Jesus, in that important hour,
His mighty arm made known;
He ransom’d us by price and power,
And claim’d us for his own.

III

Now, freed from bondage, sin, and death,
We walk in wisdom’s ways;
And wish to spend our every breath
In wonder, love, and praise.

IV

Ere long, we hope with Him to dwell
In yonder world above;
And now we only live to tell
The riches of his love.

V

O might we, ere we hence remove,
Prevail upon our youth
To seek, that they may likewise prove
His mercy and his truth!

VI

Like Simeon, we shall gladly go,
When Jesus calls us home;
If they are left a seed below,
To serve him in our room.

VII

Lord, hear our prayer, indulge our hope.
On these thy Spirit pour,
That they may take our story up,
When we can speak no more.

Where this text comes from

First published in Olney Hymns (1779). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1] [2] [3]

Structure read from the source's markup; the words have not been compared against a page scan. Last checked 2026-08-15.

Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/john-newton_william-cowper_olney-hymns, book-2.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (2)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1–#L28.

Cite this poem

John Newton (1725–1807). “We Were Pharaoh’s Bondmen.” First published in Olney Hymns (1779). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/john-newton/we-were-pharaohs-bondmen/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

More by John Newton