Christians, Come, in Sweetest Measures

Christians, come, in sweetest measures
Sing of those who spread the treasures
In the holy Gospels shrined;
Blessèd tidings of salvation,
Peace on earth their proclamation,
Love from God to lost mankind.

See the rivers four that gladden
With their streams the better Eden,
Planted by our Savior dear.
Christ the Fountain, these the waters,
Drink, O Zion’s sons and daughters;
Drink and find salvation here.

Here our souls, by Jesus sated,
More and more shall be translated
Earth’s temptations far above;
Freed from sin’s abhorred dominion,
Soaring on angelic pinion,
They shall reach the Source of love.

Then shall thanks and praise ascending
For Thy mercies without ending
Rise to Thee, O Savior blest.
With Thy gracious aid defend us,
Let Thy guiding light attend us,
Bring us to Thy place of rest.

Author: Adam of St. Victor

Year: 1150

This is an English translation of the medieval Latin hymn "De quatuor evangelistis" (or similar incipit) attributed to the 12th-century sequence writer Adam of St. Victor. The translation is by an anonymous hand (sometimes associated with compilers like the 19th-century hymnals of the 1850s–70s), but the original author is Adam.