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About Numbered Notation

Numbered Notation (also called Jianpu, 简谱) writes each melody note as a number from 1 to 7 instead of a note on a staff. The number shows the note's position in the song's scale -- not its exact pitch -- so the same tune looks identical no matter what key it's sung in.

Within one octave, the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 correspond to the familiar do re mi fa sol la ti. A dot above a number raises it an octave higher; a dot below lowers it an octave lower -- no dot means the middle, as-written octave.

A plain number lasts one beat. A dash (-) right after a number holds that same note for one more beat. A line underneath a number shortens it instead -- one line is half a beat, two lines a quarter of a beat. A 0 is a rest: silence for one beat.

The label at the top of the sheet, like "1=C" or "1=Ab", shows which pitch scale degree 1 ("do") is tuned to. A song in a minor key is labeled "6=X" instead -- scale degree 6 ("la") is the true tonic. Chord names printed above the notes (like "C" or "G7") always use their familiar letter names, never numbers.

For example, under a "1=C" heading, the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 sound as C D E F G A B. Under a "1=G" heading, those very same numbers sound as G A B C D E F# instead -- same shape, different key.

I had a debt I could not pay

Gospel General

New Songs172
1
I had a debt I could not pay,
He paid the debt He did not owe,
I needed someone,
To wash my sins away.
And now I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing grace” all day long,
Christ Jesus paid the debt,
That I could never pay.
2
But that’s not all,
Christ lives in me,
I once was blind but now I see.
It pleased the Father
To reveal the Son in Me,
That I become the same as He;
Christ now is being formed in me
Till all my death is swallowed up in victory.

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Anonymous

Jul 8, 2019

Awesome

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Anonymous

Lagos, Nigeria

Dec 12, 2017

I love this song so much!

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Anonymous

Sep 30, 2017

Is there music or singer to this hymn?

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Mercy

Nairobi, Kenya

Nov 24, 2016

Chorus

And now I keep on falling in love with him over and over again×2

And it's gonna be sweeter and sweeter as days go by, what a love between my Lord and I, falling in love with Him over and over again.

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David

Riverside, California, United States

Jul 19, 2016

Stanza #2
But that's not all
Christ lives in me
I once was blind but now I see
It pleased the Father
to reveal the Son in Me
That I become the same as He
Christ now is being formed in me
Till all my death is swallowed up in victory.

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Ronald Grosinsky

Detroit, MI, United States

Mar 27, 2016

William C. Kieffer,

Here is your portuguese translation. It isn't that hard. I just copied the song and went to Google Translate.

On the left side I pasted the version I wanted translated, on the right side I clicked on Portuguese and this is what I came up with.

Good luck and may God be with you.
R. Grosinsky.
1
Eu tinha uma dívida que eu não podia pagar,
Ele pagou a dívida que Ele não devia,
Eu precisava de alguém,
Para lavar meus pecados.
E agora eu cantar uma canção nova marca,
"Amazing grace" durante todo o dia,
Jesus Cristo pagou a dívida,
Que eu nunca poderia pagar.

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William C Kieffer

Catalão, Goiás

May 14, 2014

Does anyone know of a Portuguese translation of this hymn? We have been missionaries in Brazil for over 35 years. It would be so nice to discover a translation.

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Benter Omadie

Fürstenwalde Spree, Brandenburg

Apr 26, 2014

I do sing a brand new song because Christ Jesus washed all my sins away. A debt I owed and could not pay (sin).

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Tommie McCracken

Banbridge, County Down, United Kingdom

Feb 5, 2014

I was only a week saved in 1976 and went to my first church service in a wee pentecostal church they sang this song "I had a debt..." it touched me so much that I wept my way through the service people came and laid hands on me to pray with me. Each time I think of this wee chorus I always think of that first service I went to and realise how much the Lord loves me. Thank You Jesus.

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Kevin Su

Santa Clara, CA, United States

Aug 29, 2013

I have a debt, I can never never pay, I don't even know You Lord, what causes You to pay for my sins, what causes You to pay the debt? Lord I kept turning away from You... Wow Lord truly You are full of grace and tender mercy! Lord I Love You.

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