JESUS LOVES ME
"I pray that you...may have power...to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17-18
Words: Stanza 1, Anna Bartlett Warner, 1860. Stanzas 2-3, David
Rutherford McGuire.
Music: William Batchelder Bradbury, 1862.
Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so,
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
Refrain
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me! This I know,
As He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee,
Saying, "Let them come to Me."
Refrain
Jesus loves me still today,
Walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to give
Light and love to all who live.
Refrain
Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.
Refrain
Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way;
Thou hast bled and died for me,
I will henceforth live for Thee.
Refrain
For those interested in the background of this hymn, it originally
appeared as a poem inside a novel, Say and Seal, which Anna Warner
co-authored with her sister Susan. In the book, the words are spoken to
a dying child, and in that context, there is another stanza not commonly
found in hymnals:
Jesus loves me! Loves me still,
Though I'm very weak and ill,
That I might from sin be free
Bled and died upon the tree.