Every high school student in Western civilisation has to endure lessons on Shakespeare’s plays. While teachers might praise his mastery of the English language, the Medieval tongue is foreign to many – “Teach it, but how, and thou shalt see how apt it is to learn any hard lesson that may do thee good” (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Scene 3). Say, what now?

But some love the aesthetics of this bygone era. Thee’s and thou’s somehow transport you to another world, connecting you to transcendent airs of the divine. I guess, hearing Juliet call out, “Hey Romeo, are you here?” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it? But then again, if “you speak in the tongues of angels… [and] utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? …You’ll just be a noisy gong or clanging symbol!” (1 Cor 13:1, 14:9).

So comprehension is crucial.

In 1382, John Wycliffe understood the importance of understanding – “Englishmen learn Christ’s law best in English. Moses heard God’s law in his own tongue; so did Christ’s apostles.” So, at the cost of his life, Wycliffe translated the entire Bible into the English language. When the invention of the printing press significantly hastened the duplication process, William Tyndale capitalised on the opportunity to put the Bible into every “vulgar” hand. The impact was revolutionary. As “Scripture was plainly laid before [the common people’s] eyes in their mother tongue” (Tyndale), the Bible went viral. Comprehension brought divine enlightenment to every Tom, Mitch, and Sally. Knowledge of the true and living God was now accessible to all.

While people relished this blessing, human nature has a tendency to take comfort in tradition. So despite Wycliffe’s wisdom, the Bible continued using Medieval language long after English had modernised. Thee’s and thou’s went out of parlance (popular use) sometime in the 17^th century. In 1660, for example, George Fox fought (with physical violence) to retain the Old English pronouns in everyday conversations, but his efforts were futile. Much to his disappointment, everyone had moved on.

… Except for Christians. It took another 300 years for the Bible to update! In 1952, translators of the Revised Standard Version finally removed every old English pronoun and modernised all verb endings (from “Saith” to “say”, as one example of many). “Begat” eventually gave birth to a Bible in our heart language.

So, having been convinced of the importance of comprehension, my heart laments whenever a song is sung using the archaic pronouns of Shakespeare. “Be thou my vision” takes a few moments for me to translate into, “Lord, be my vision.” For powerpoint makers, updating the language should be simple, and the impact, enormous. But I fear many, like George Fox, cling to out-dated relics from the past.

This website is my meagre attempt to provide lyrics to popular hymns using language that our hearts immediately comprehend.

It also includes lyrics suitable for children, and/or people for whom English is not their primary language.

If we’re convinced we should be translating the Bible into every tongue, maybe we should also translate our rich treasure trove of hymns into our heart language.

After all, “a rose, by any other name, would smell just as sweet.”