"Jesus Loves Me" is a Christian hymn written by Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of an 1860 novel called Say and Seal, written by her older sister Susan Warner (1819–1885), in which the words were spoken as a comforting poem to a dying child. The tune was added in 1862 by William Batchelder Bradbury (1816–1868). Along with his tune, Bradbury added his own chorus "Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus Loves me..." After publication as a song it became one of the most popular Christian hymns in churches around the world, especially among children.

Poem by Anna Bartlett Warner

As originally published in 1860, it appeared in four stanzas, as follows:

Hymn by William Batchelder Bradbury

Bradbury's Golden Shower of S.S. Melodies: a new collection of hymns and tunes for the Sabbath school, edited by Wm. B. Bradbury, New York, 1862:

History

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. This hymn was titled "China" in some hymnals of the 19th century. Some early hymnals, such as The Modern Hymnal (1926) explain this title with a subtitled note that says, "The favorite Hymn of China". By the time of later hymnals such as the Baptist Hymnal (1956), the subtitle had been dropped and the tune was simply called "CHINA".

Revised versions

The poem and the hymn, or portions of them, have sometimes been revised. Some examples of this are

Notable performances

The song has been recorded by a large number of different artists, either obscure or famous. Some versions include the following: