Christ Jesus,
the true Word,
eternal God,
born of a virgin,
tender shoot from the stump of Jesse,
blessed Lamb,
by him souls were set free,
through his blood all were redeemed,
the earth rejoiced because the enemy departed,
death of death,
hell’s destruction,
you gave freedom to your new creation
that rejoices to call you Master.
Jesus, Lamb of God,
you forgive the sins of the world.
We call on your holy name.
Source: Greek Papyrus Fragment, Cairo Museum, Fourth Century
Source of this version: The New Archaeological Discoveries and their Bearing upon the New Testament by Camdem McCormick Cobern, Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1918, p. 292
Text gaps freely reconstructed by Paul C. Stratman.
“Christ Jesus, the true Word, the God of eternity” is a reference to John 1:1
“born of a virgin” is a reference to Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:34
“a tender shoot” is a reference to Isaiah 53:2
“Stump of Jesse” is a reference to Isaiah 11:1
“through his blood” is a reference to 1 Peter 1:19
“death of death, hell’s destruction” on p. 293 of The New Archaeological Discoveries… a similar prayer has the phrase, “the one that has abolished death and the grave (Hades).” The phrase “death of death…” is from the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” by William Williams.
“new creation” is a reference to 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Lamb of God” is a reference to John 1:29
Text as it reads in The New Archaeological Discoveries and their Bearing upon the New Testament without gaps reconstructed:
Christ…
the true Word,
the God of eternity
…
the blessed Lamb,
by him souls were set free
through his blood …
the earth rejoiced because the enemy departed
…
You gave freedom to the creation
that asked for a Master.
Jesus, you …
forgive sins …
we call on your holy name.
“A Canticle of Christ” from a Greek Papyrus Fragment as reconstructed by Paul C. Stratman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Please contact for any commercial usage.
A Collection of Prayers 