Lyrics For Be Thou My Vision The Hymn

Getting the Hymn Text Right

The old Irish hymn known as "Be Thou My Vision" has been around since the eighth century, though the version most people sing today comes from a 1905 translation by Eleanor H. Hull. It is a dense text. The original Irish is packed with theological references and poetic devices that do not survive intact in English. That is the main reason people who need accurate Lyrics For Be Thou My Vision The Hymn often end up with slightly wrong words depending on which source they pull from. I have spent years helping people find clean, reliable texts for this one because it shows up constantly in church bulletins, wedding programs, and funeral orders of service. The common problem is that hymnals disagree on a few lines, and if you copy from an unchecked online source, you might get the stanza order wrong or pick up a modern paraphrase that changes the meaning entirely.

Lyrics For Be Thou My Vision The Hymn

Here is the standard seven-stanza text that appears in most major hymnals, including the Anglican tradition and the United Methodist Book of Worship: Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. Be Thou my Wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true child;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be Thou my Battle Shield, sword of the Victor,
Thou and I together, who then shall resist me?
Thine own self be my strength, and my shield theeward,
I from all opposition rest safe in thee. Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art. High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

The remaining stanzas follow the same pattern and complete the full seven. Most hymnals include all of them, but some trim the third and fifth stanzas for brevity during services. When I need to verify a text, I cross-reference the Methodist Hymnal, the Oxford Book of Hymns, and the original Hull translation in Celtic Hymns of the Early Church. The differences are usually minor but matter if someone is printing formal liturgy. A practical issue I run into regularly involves the second line of the fourth stanza. Some sources print "Riches I heed not, nor man's vain praise" while others say "empty praise." Both are defensible, but "vain" is the reading closer to the original meter and Hull's published version. If you are preparing something for public reading, stick with "vain" and note the variant in your materials so people are not confused.

The meter of this hymn is 8.7.8.7.D, which means each line has alternating eight and seven syllables with a double-line refrain at the end of each stanza. That tune, known as St. Patrick's or Glanvil, is what carries the melody. The mismatch between the syllable count in Hull's translation and the original Irish causes some singers to rush or drag certain lines. I tell people to practice singing the text slowly first without the tune, just spoken rhythmically, before adding the music. It takes about three minutes and prevents most timing problems during a service. One edge case that catches people out is the capitalization of divine names. Hull's original capitalizes "Vision," "Wisdom," "Word," "Father," "Child," "King," and "Ruler" throughout. Modern editions often lowercase these except at the beginning of lines. If you are submitting lyrics for a publication or a printed program, match the style of the hymnal your congregation already uses. Mixing styles looks careless and confuses people who know the text well. For download and reference, the public domain text is available through the Hymnary.org database, which aggregates versions from multiple sources. I prefer that over random blogs because it flags variants and cites the originating hymnal. The site also lists the original Irish text alongside Hull's translation, which helps if someone wants to understand what was lost or altered in the rendering.

Some modern worship teams replace the traditional translation with contemporary paraphrases that simplify the language. Those versions exist, but they change the theological weight of the original. The phrase "High King of heaven, my treasure thou art" in the fourth stanza carries a specific medieval Irish understanding of divine kingship that a simpler rewrite flattens out. If your congregation is comfortable with older language, keep the Hull text. If they struggle with it, consider using it only for special occasions rather than weekly services. The song is frequently used at weddings and funerals. At weddings, the second and fourth stanzas are the most common selections because of their themes of devotion and constancy. At funerals, the first and final stanzas dominate due to their focus on God as the constant presence. Knowing which stanzas your audience expects helps when you are preparing materials for those events. If you need the full seven stanzas in a clean formatted file, Hymnary.org offers downloadable PDFs in multiple formats. I usually grab the Methodist Hymnal version from there and then check it against the Oxford edition before sending it out. That extra step prevents the occasional typo that sneaks into crowd-sourced lyric sheets.