Now Thank We All Our God Martin Rinkart, translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1858
3 verses, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love
And still is ours to-day.
Verse 2. Oh, may this bounteous God
Through all this life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.
Verse 3. All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son, and Him who reigns
With them in highest heaven:
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore!
Words copied from Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book (Abridged Edition) (1927). They were published in 1858, 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 Now Thank We All Our God
Martin Rinkart served as archdeacon at Eilenburg in Saxony for most of the Thirty Years' War. The walled town filled with refugees, and plague and famine followed. In 1637 he was the only pastor left to conduct the burials, and his own wife was among the dead. The Hymnology Archive says his German hymn first appeared in Jesu Hertz-Büchlein at Leipzig in 1636, with three stanzas and no music. Hymnary.org lists the same source for some instances and says another account puts the first publication in 1663. It was first a table prayer. The first two stanzas draw on Sirach 50:22 to 24, and the third is a Trinitarian doxology. Johann Crüger set it to the tune NUN DANKET in Praxis Pietatis Melica in 1647. The hymn was reportedly sung on 10 December 1648 to mark the Peace of Westphalia. Catherine Winkworth made the English translation, which first appeared as text in Lyra Germanica in 1858. The Chorale Book for England paired it with Crüger's tune in 1863. Johann Sebastian Bach used the tune in Cantata 192, and Felix Mendelssohn used it in his Lobgesang in 1840. The Baptist Hymnal 1991 credits Mendelssohn with the harmonization and prints it in F.
Martin Rinkart
1586-04-23 to 1649-12-08
Martin Rinkart was born at Eilenburg, Saxony, the son of a poor coppersmith. He studied at the University of Leipzig, served as precentor at Eisleben, and at 31 became archdeacon at Eilenburg as the Thirty Years' War began. He stayed through plundering, quartering of soldiers, the plague of 1637 that killed about 8,000 people in the town, and the famine that followed. He buried more than 4,000 people and gave away most of his household's food. When Swedish forces demanded 30,000 thalers, he pleaded for mercy until the sum fell to 2,000 florins. He died in 1649, shortly after the peace.
Johann Crüger
1598-04-09 to 1662-02-23
Johann Crüger was born at Gross-Breese, near Guben, and studied at schools in several towns and briefly at Wittenberg. He settled in Berlin in 1615 and worked as a private tutor until 1622. That year he became cantor of St. Nicholas Church and a master at the Greyfriars Gymnasium. His Praxis Pietatis Melica became one of the most important German hymn collections of the seventeenth century, and his Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien appeared in 1649. He promoted congregational singing, and about 20 of his tunes remain in use. The best known is NUN DANKET, which he set to Martin Rinkart's text in 1647. He died in Berlin in 1662.
- Hymnology Archive, Nun danket alle Gott , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Now Thank We All Our God , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Baptist Hymnal 1991 No. 638 , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive, Martin Rinkart , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Now Thank We All Our God
The Bible passages behind the words, with the verse of the hymn that draws on each.
- Sirach 50:22-24
- Hebrews 13:15 In verse 15 of the hymn
- Psalm 100
- 1 Chronicles 16:7-36
Now Thank We All Our God videos
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Now Thank We All Our God (Hymn 433) | Grace Community Church Congregation & Orchestra Hymns of Grace, Congregation
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Now Thank We All Our God | The Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Choir
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NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD (Cruger) - A Capella Hymn Michael Lining Music, A cappella
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Now Thank We All Our God - piano instrumental hymn with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Now Thank We All Our God | Reawaken Hymns | Official Lyric Video Reawaken Hymns, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Print and project
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in F.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Now Thank We All Our God?
Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor in Eilenburg, wrote the German words. Catherine Winkworth made the English translation in 1858.
Was Now Thank We All Our God written during the Thirty Years' War?
Rinkart ministered in Eilenburg through the war, and Hymnary.org says the hymn was first a table prayer. Sources disagree on the year of writing and the first publication.
Who wrote the tune for Now Thank We All Our God?
Johann Crüger set the hymn to NUN DANKET in Praxis Pietatis Melica in 1647.
Is Now Thank We All Our God in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. Rinkart's German is from the 1600s, and Winkworth's English translation was published in 1858.
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