1 Corinthians 15:55-57: "55 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Isaiah 53:4-5: "4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."
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The verses from 1 Corinthians appear in the hymn's third and fourth verses. The third verse starts with the line "O death, where is your deadly sting?" and the fourth verse with the line "And where your victory, O grave."
The verses from Isaiah appear in the hymn's second verse: "Our life was purchased by His loss... He died our death upon the cross."
The verses from Isaiah appear in the hymn's second verse: "Our life was purchased by His loss... He died our death upon the cross."
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The first verse seems to come from Colossians 1:18: "And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." The hymn draws on Christ as "the head" and His resurrection: "Make songs of joy to Christ, our head... He lives again who once was dead!"
