Blessed are the persecuted

if you do not hear the tune, click here.

1
Blessed are the persecuted,
for Jesus Christ is living within them.  (repeat)

        Refrain:
                Great will be their reward,
                they shall be given a crown,
                when the Lord comes from heaven to meet them.  (repeat)

2.
Blessed are they who are hungry in Spirit,
for the Lord lives within them.  (repeat ... then Refrain)

3.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for Jesus Christ is living within them.  (repeat ... then Refrain)

4.
Blessed are they who are thirsty in spirit,
For the Lord lives within them.  (repeat ... then Refrain)

Words:  based on Matthew 5; adapted by Esther C Bergen
                   Text copyright © 1990 Mennonite World Conference
   Tune:  Tonga melody (Zambia)

This page is for learning only (some copyrighted material is included here).
Commit the tune & words to memory, then sing from the heart.
Be thankful for the musician's gift, and bless the Lord.

            This anonymous Tonga text from Zambia was first published for the 1990 Mennonite World Conference. The version submitted for that conference featured a three-part women's group from Zambia, singing primarily in parallel thirds and fifths. The printed harmonization is a transcription of that recording. Doreen Klassen, who assisted in editing the songbook, notes: "[A] Zambian ethnomusicologist . . . claims this type of harmony is indigenous, pre-dating Western harmonic influences and, furthermore, that it surprises Western listeners who expect to hear open fourths or fifths or pentatonic tonal systems." This song, which congregations will find musically appealing and accessible, is a dynamic expression of the Beatitudes.

from Hymnal Companion

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