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SDA Hymnal 604

We Know Not the Hour

Words: [unclear]Music: [unclear]Tune: [unclear][unclear]

1We know not the hour of the Master's appearing;
Yet signs all foretell that the moment is nearing
When He shall return 'tis a promise most cheering
But we know not the hour.

RefrainHe will come, let us watch and be ready;
He will come, hallelujah! hallelujah!
He will come in the clouds of His Father's bright glory
But we know not the hour.

2There's light for the wise who are seeking salvation;
There's truth in the book of the Lord's revelation;
Each prophecy points to the great consummation
But we know not the hour.

3We'll watch and we'll pray, with our lamps trimmed and burning
We'll work and we'll wait till the Master's returning;
We'll sing and rejoice, every omen discerning
But we know not the hour.

Words: [unclear]
Music: [unclear]
Tune: [unclear]
Meter: [unclear]
Scripture: Matthew 24:36; Matthew 25:13; Mark 13:32

Public Domain

The verse

Meter: 13.12.12.7
Foot: trochaic (DUM-da) · 34% of beats fit
Rhyme: AAAB

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

We know not the hour of the Master's appearing;˘/˘˘/˘˘˘/˘˘/˘13A

Yet signs all foretell that the moment is nearing///˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘12A

When He shall return 'tis a promise most cheering/˘˘˘//˘/˘//˘12A

But we know not the hour.˘˘/˘˘/˘7B

Verse 2

There's light for the wise who are seeking salvation;//˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘12A

There's truth in the book of the Lord's revelation;//˘˘/˘˘//˘/˘12A

Each prophecy points to the great consummation//˘˘/˘˘//˘/˘12A

But we know not the hour.˘˘/˘˘/˘7B

Verse 3

We'll watch and we'll pray, with our lamps trimmed and burning//˘//˘/˘//˘/˘13A

We'll work and we'll wait till the Master's returning;//˘///˘/˘˘/˘12A

We'll sing and rejoice, every omen discerning//˘˘//˘˘/˘˘/˘13A

But we know not the hour.˘˘/˘˘/˘7B

Refrain

He will come, let us watch and be ready;˘˘//˘/˘˘/˘10A

He will come, hallelujah! hallelujah!˘˘//˘/˘/˘/˘11B

He will come in the clouds of His Father's bright glory˘˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘//˘13C

But we know not the hour.˘˘/˘˘/˘7D

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.