Jesus loves me, this I know

Loved this song as a child, but as an adult it means a whole lot more. "My first love"

I love Jesus.

This song was written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1820-1915) in 1860. The chorus and tune were added by William Batchelder Bradbury in 1862 - Wikipedia.

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Anna Warner and her sister, Susan, grew up near West Point Military Academy, where they became known for leading Sunday school services for the young men there. After the death of their father, a New York lawyer, the sisters supported themselves with their various literary endeavors. Susan became a best-selling novelist. Anna also wrote novels and published 2 collections of poems. She wrote this simple hymn in 1860 to be included in one of her sister's novels. In the story, it was a poem of comfort spoken to a dying child.

... Once when asked to summarize the essential truths of the Christian faith, the great Swiss theologian Karl Barth gave this simple answer: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." - Great Songs of Faith by Brown & Norton

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Betty 7/2012 gives the additional original stanzas. Marilee 1/2013 gives more stanzas which were added later. There is another original stanza that is usually omitted, probably because it fit the specific context of the novel it was written for but not general situations. But it is touching especially when the context is considered:

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Jesus loves me—loves me still,
Though I'm very weak and ill;
From his shining throne on high,
Comes to watch me where I lie.
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In 1943 in the Solomon Islands, John F. Kennedy's PT-109 was rammed and sunk. Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana who found Kennedy and the survivors remember that when they rode on PT boats to retrieve the survivors, the Marines sang this song with the natives, who had learned it from Seventh-day Adventist missionaries - Wikipedia

Here are all the verses...

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.

Refrain:
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! This I know,
As He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee,
Saying, “Let them come to Me.”

Jesus loves me still today,
Walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to give
Light and love to all who live.

Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way;
Thou hast bled and died for me,
I will henceforth live for Thee.

I too learned this as a child; I am 71 years old and still love to sing it. I love this verse too:

Luke 18:16 (KJV)

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Here are two more verses from my hymn book.

Jesus loves me! He Who died,
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way;
Thou hast bled and died for me,
I will henceforth live for Thee.

My mother taught me this song as soon as I could utter my first words, and to this day, in times of great stress, it is the song that I sing.

I love this song.

I just love this old song. my parents taught it to me when I was a small child and I am now an adult, (almost 60) & I still enjoy singing this song.

I have to memorize this song when about twelve years old in my country church. Now I love this song day by day. So I'm weak but He is strong. Amen!

It reminds me of the good old days when I was in primary school in my village. We used to sing this song and it is still in my memory. I am happy to find it online and to sing it again and sing it for my children too.