Almond Blossom — Sign of Life

Original German Text by Schalom Ben-Chorin

Music by Ron Klusmeier
English Translation by Fred Kaan
Tune Name: PATERSON

Lyrics as Poetry

Almond trees, renewed in bloom,
do they not proclaim
life returning year by year,
love that will remain?

Almond blossom, sign of life
in the face of pain,
raises hope in people’s hearts:
spring has come again.

War destroys a thousand-fold,
hatred scars the earth,
but the day when almonds bloom
is a time of birth.

Friends, give thanks for almond blooms
swaying in the wind:
token that the gift of life
triumphs in the end.


Words by
Fred Kaan
Copyright © 1983 by Hope Publishing Company
(Carol Stream, Illinois) for USA and Canada
Copyright © 1983 by Stainer & Bell Limited
(London, England) for all other territories

Comments About Song

• Author Fred Kaan, from his book The Only Earth We Know (Stainer & Bell / Hope Publishing Co., 1999, page 114): “At the 1983 Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver, I was asked to translate a hymn by the Israeli poet and philosopher Schalom Ben-Chorin. The text is based on Jeremiah 1:11-12, which contains a pun in the original text: ‘almond branch’ and ’(God) watching’ sound very similar in Hebrew.”


The Only Earth We Know
(Hymn Texts by Fred Kaan)
is co-published by:Hope Publishing Company
Carol Stream, IL USA
(for USA and Canada)Stainer & Bell, Limited
London, England
(for all other countries)


Audio Sample

ALMOND BLOSSOM — SIGN OF LIFE
Introduction + All Verses
sung by Sheelah Megill

Scripture Reference

  • Jeremiah 1:11-12

Season, Theme
or Subject

  • Birth, Birthing
  • Lent
  • Life∶ new life
  • Offering, Offertory
  • Spring (season)
  • Sustenance
  • Translations∶  Orig. German: S. Ben-Chorin
  • Tree, Trees

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