[Verse 1]
The saints before us sang these tunes,
They taught them to our young,
And when they could not sing them more,
Their children's children sung.

[Chorus]
Hand it down, hand it down,
The hymn from mouth to mouth,
Hand it down, hand it down,
From the north and from the south.

[Verse 2]
A hymn is not a thing we own,
It's something that we keep,
We hand it forward to our young,
Then lay us down to sleep.

[Chorus]
Hand it down, hand it down,
The hymn from mouth to mouth,
Hand it down, hand it down,
From the north and from the south.

[Verse 3]
Then hand it to the youngest child
Who's barely learned to speak,
And hand it to the dying saint
Whose voice is growing weak.

[Chorus]
Hand it down, hand it down,
The hymn from mouth to mouth,
Hand it down, hand it down,
From the north and from the south.

[Verse 4]
The songs we sing were not our own,
The Author wrote them through,
And every verse we hand along,
He hands along to you.

[Chorus]
Hand it down, hand it down,
The hymn from mouth to mouth,
Hand it down, hand it down,
From the north and from the south.

[Verse 5]
So sing it loud, the saints of God,
And sing it for the field,
And when your singing turns to rest,
Then hand it down, and yield.

[Chorus]
Hand it down, hand it down,
The hymn from mouth to mouth,
Hand it down, hand it down,
From the north and from the south.