Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed Lyrics Isaac Watts, 1707
5 verses, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sov’reign die,
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Verse 2. Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown,
And love beyond degree!
Verse 3. Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When God, the mighty Maker, died
For man the creature’s sin.
Verse 4. Thus might I hide my blushing face
While his dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.
Verse 5. But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.
Words copied from New Baptist Hymnal (1926). They were published in 1707, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed
Isaac Watts published Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed in 1707 in the first edition of Hymns and Spiritual Songs. It had six four-line stanzas and no music, under the heading Godly Sorrow Arising from the Sufferings of Christ. The hymn was part of Watts's effort to give Christians songs based on the New Testament, since English Protestants sang mostly psalms. Most hymnals drop the second stanza.
Watts changed the punctuation across his editions. The first line was a question until the tenth edition, when it became an exclamation. The second edition rewrote the last two lines of stanza 2.
American congregations know the hymn with a refrain, At the Cross. Ralph E. Hudson added it in 1885 in Songs of Peace, Love, and Joy, published in Alliance, Ohio. The Hymnology Archive says the refrain's melody has older roots. It traces to a secular song of 1853, a 1864 setting by Hermann L. Schreiner and Salvation Army use in the early 1880s. The author of the refrain's words is unknown. William J. Reynolds found 1887 printings that do not credit Hudson.
Two tunes carry the hymn. MARTYRDOM, the tune in most older and mainline hymnals, goes back to Hugh Wilson, who wrote it for music classes in duple meter. Robert A. Smith put it in triple meter in 1825. The Baptist Hymnal 1991 prints HUDSON, which Hudson wrote in 1885, in E flat major.
Many editors change God in stanza 3 to Christ, and some revise the gendered wording.
Isaac Watts
1674-07-17 to 1748-11-25
Isaac Watts was born in Southampton, England, on July 17, 1674, the son of a schoolmaster. He became a Nonconformist minister in London and lived his last years at Stoke Newington. His Hymns and Spiritual Songs first appeared in 1707 with 210 hymns, and a larger second edition followed in 1709. The Psalms of David Imitated came out in 1719. Counts of his hymns vary. Hutchins says more than 800, and Julian lists 454 hymns and psalm versions still in common use. Watts died on November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields in London.
Ralph E. Hudson
1843 to 1901
Ralph E. Hudson was born in Napoleon, Ohio, and served in the Union Army during the Civil War. He taught for five years at Mt. Union College in Alliance, Ohio, then founded his own publishing company there. He was a strong prohibitionist and published The Temperance Songster in 1886. Hudson compiled several song collections, including Songs of Peace, Love and Joy (1885), where the tune HUDSON appeared with the refrain for "At the Cross." Sources disagree on who wrote the refrain words and melody, and the Hymnology Archive credits its melody to older songs.
- Hymnary.org, Alas! and did my Savior bleed , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive, Alas! and did my Saviour bleed , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, HUDSON (Hudson) , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Mark 15:34
- Mark 15:33
- Galatians 6:14
- Romans 5:6-12
- 1 Corinthians 15:3
- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed videos
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At The Cross (Hymn 284) | Grace Community Church Congregation & Orchestra Hymns of Grace, Congregation
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Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed (Grace Community Church) Martijn de Groot, Congregation
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Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed? (6 verses!!) - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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At the Cross (Alas and Did My Savior Bleed) - piano instrumental hymn with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed? (Live) SovereignGraceMusic, Modern arrangement
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Red Mountain Church - At the Cross (Alas, And Did My Savior Bleed) mchen730, Modern arrangement
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Print and project
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in E♭ or E.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed?
Isaac Watts wrote the words and published them in 1707. Ralph E. Hudson added the refrain At the Cross in 1885.
Is Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed the same as At the Cross?
At the Cross is the name of the version with Hudson's refrain. The stanzas are Watts's hymn.
What tune is Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed sung to?
Most older hymnals use MARTYRDOM, and gospel hymnals with the refrain use HUDSON. Hudson wrote HUDSON in 1885.
Is Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. Watts first published them in 1707, and the refrain and tune date to 1885.
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