has appeared in re-written forms more than once because its “backward look” to a golden age is not Biblical but is derived from the Fourth Eclogue of the poet Virgil. In the Episcopal Hymnal of 1874 this is altered to read
For lo, the days are hastening on
By prophets seen of old,
Till with the ever circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace their King- - - -
and this version was reprinted in the Episcopal hymnals of 1892 and 1916, and passed into other collections. In the Hymnal, 1940, it was again altered to read
For lo, the days are hastening on
By prophets seen of old,