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Vain are the hopes that rebels place Stones made children of Abraham; or, Grace not conveyed by religious parents, Matt. 3. 9

Isaac Watts printed it in 1707 in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I, no. 99, under Matthew 3:9.

WRITTEN BY

Isaac Watts 1674–1748

PRINTED

1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs · no. 99

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 3 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Matthew 3:9 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 3 stanzas as Watts 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

1 echoes in 12 lines.

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

Vain are the hopes that rebels place

Upon their birth and blood,

Descended from a pious race;

(Their fathers now with God.)

No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.

Where Watts found it

Watts printed the hymn under Matthew 3:9. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. MATTHEW 3:9 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ MATTHEW 3

He from the caves of earth and hell Can take the hardest stones, And fill the house of Abra'm well With new-created sons. STANZA II

Its place in the book

Book I of the hymn book, “Collected from the Holy Scriptures”, holds these hymns in this order: 179 hymns. This is number 99. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 99 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Vain are the hopes that rebels place

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