This is the version I like. It hardly ever gets sung in full - just the first three verses with the anonymous addition as the last verse...
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
?Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
?Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
anonymous addition
When we?ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We?ve no less days to sing God?s praise
Than when we?d first begun.
ugh. Not a word wasted in all the other verses, and then someone sticks on a verse that sounds like Tim Rice wrote it.
[lyric snob]