Hymn writers have captured in verse many moments in the life of Jesus. We invite you to find a passage of scripture which will match with each verse of a hymn printed below.

You could think of this as a challenge to your knowledge of the Bible. However, as a quiet devotional study you might read each verse printed below, having matched it up with a passage of scripture, and think what the experience meant to Him.

Some suggested references are given at the end, but you may have found other passages which are an even better fit to the hymn verses.

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Forty days and forty nights
Thou was fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted still, yet undefiled.
Sunbeams scorching day by day;
Chilly dewdrops nightly shed;
Prowling beasts about thy way,
Stone thy pillow, earth thy bed.

***

He reached out and touched them, the blind, the deaf, the lame;
He spoke and listened gladly to any one who came.

***

At even, when the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around thee lay;
O in what divers pains they met!
O with what joy they went away!

***

Fierce raged the tempest o'er the deep,
Watch did thy anxious servants keep;
But thou wast wrapped in guileless sleep,
Calm and still.
'Save, Lord, we perish' was their cry,
'O save us in our agony!'
Thy word above the storm rose high,
'Peace! Be still!'

***

Stay, Master, stay upon this heavenly hill;
A little longer, let us linger still;
With all the mighty ones of old beside,
Near to the aweful Presence still abide;
Before the throne of light we trembling stand,
And catch a glimpse into the spirit‑land.

***

Ride on, ride on in majesty!
Hark, all the tribes 'Hosanna' cry;
Thine humble beast pursues his road
With palms and scattered garments strowed.

***

Kneels at the feet of his friends,
Silently washes their feet,
Master who acts as a slave to them.
Jesu, Jesu,
Fill us with your love,
Show us how to serve
The neighbours we have from you.

***

In life no house, no home
My Lord on earth might have;
In death no friendly tomb
But what a stranger gave.

***

When my love to Christ grows weak,
When for deeper faith I seek,
Then in thought I go to thee,
Garden of Gethsemane.
There I walk amid the shades
While the lingering twilight fades,
See that suffering, friendless One,
Weeping, praying there alone.

*** 

Death cannot keep his prey,
Jesus, my Saviour;
He tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord.
Up from the grave he arose,
With a mighty triumph o'er his foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And he lives for ever with his saints to reign;
He arose! He arose!
Alleluia! Christ arose!

***

Bible references

Mark 1.9‑13; Matthew 4.23‑5; Matthew 8.16‑17; Mark 4.35‑41; Matthew 17.1‑13; Mark 11.1‑11; John 13.1‑17; Mark 14.32‑42; Matthew 28.1‑20; Luke 9.57‑8 and John 19.38‑42;