Passiontide Hymn

The royal banners forward go;
The cross shows forth redemption's flow,
Where He, by whom our flesh was made,
Our ransom in His flesh has paid:

Where deep for us the spear was dyed,
Life's torrent rushing from His side,
To wash us in that precious flood
Where flowed the water and the blood.

Fulfilled is all that David told
In sure prophetic song of old,
That God the nation's king should be
And reign in triumph from the tree.

On whose hard arms so widely flung
The weight of this world's ransom hung,
The price of human kind to pay,
And spoil the spoiler of his prey.

O tree of beauty, tree most fair,
Ordained those holy limbs to bear:
Gone is the shame, each crimsoned bough
Proclaims the King of Glory now.

To Thee, eternal Three in One,
Let homage meet by all be done;
As by the cross Thou dost restore,
So guide and keep us evermore. Amen.

--Venatius Honorius Fortunatus

LSB 455