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Shall men pretend to pleasure We were once as you are

John Newton printed it in 1779 in Olney Hymns, Book III, no. 3, under Isaiah 57:20–21.

WRITTEN BY

John Newton 1725–1807

PRINTED

1779 Olney Hymns · no. 3

METRE

7.6.7.6 5 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Isaiah 57:20–21 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 5 stanzas as Newton printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.

SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes

AMONG THE SCRIPTURES

The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.

a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here

STANZA I

Shall men pretend to pleasure

Who never knew the LORD?

Can all the worldling’s treasure

True peace of mind afford?

They shall obtain this jewel

In what their hearts desire,

When they by adding fuel

Can quench the flame of fire.

Where Newton found it

Newton printed the hymn under Isaiah 57:20–21. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

20But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. 21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” ISAIAH 57:20–21 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ ISAIAH 57

Till you can bid the ocean, When furious tempests roar, Forget its wonted motion, And rage, and swell, no more: In vain your expectation To find content in sin; Or freedom from vexation, While passions reign within. STANZA II

Its place in the book

Book III of the hymn book, “On the progress and changes of the spiritual life”, holds these hymns in this order: 106 hymns. This is number 3. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 3 · JOHN NEWTON · THIS HYMN Shall men pretend to pleasure

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