Hymn
The Pool of Bethesda
Beside the gospel pool
Appointed for the poor,
From year to year, my helpless soul
Has waited for a cure.
How often have I seen
The healing waters move;
And others round me stepping in,
Their efficacy prove!
But my complaints remain;
I feel the very same;
As full of guilt. and fear, and pain,
As when at first I came.
O, would the Lord appear
My malady to heal;
He knows how long I've languish'd here,
And what distress I feel.
How often have I thought,
Why should I longer lie?
Surely the mercy I have sought
Is not for such as I?
But whither can I go?
There is not other pool
Where streams of sov'reign virtue flow
To make a sinner whole.
Here, then from day to day,
I'll wait, and hope, and try;
Can Jesus hear a sinner pray,
Yet suffer him to die?
No--he is full of grace;
He never will permit
A soul, that fain would see his face,
To perish at his feet.
The Pool of Bethesda — Text from Hymns, Selected and Original, 1828. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/the-pool-of-bethesda
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Questions about this hymn
Who wrote The Pool of Bethesda?
The words of The Pool of Bethesda were written by John Newton; the version here was published in 1828. The library holds 38 more hymns by John Newton, including Rejoice, Believer, in the Lord and Christ, a True Friend.
Is The Pool of Bethesda public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from Hymns, Selected and Original, published in 1828. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright in the United States, so you can print, project, perform and record this hymn freely. How we source and check every hymn.
What is the metre of The Pool of Bethesda?
The Pool of Bethesda is in Short Metre (6.6.8.6). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, Behold the Throne of Grace!, It Is Not Death to Die and Soldiers of Christ, Arise.