“I know for myself that Joseph Smith was a prophet because I have applied the simple promise in the Book of Mormon: ‘Ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ’ (Moroni 10:4). In simple words, look up.”^[1]

~Adrián Ochoa

 

Note: This is a part of an ongoing series, the Mexico Mission Hymns Project.

The Text

La Proclamación, by José V. Estrada G., is one of the few hymns original to Mexico that have survived up to the present (1992) Spanish-language hymnbook in the Church.  Also called “La voz, ya, del Eterno”, it was was initially included as hymn 51 in the 1912 Himnos de Sion (Mexican Mission) (see Figure 1), and was included in all subsequent editions of that collection, the 1942 Himnos de Sion that was published by the Church (Hymn 252), and the 1992 Himnos (Hymn 145).  In the original hymnal, it was intended to be sung to hymn 53 in Songs of Zion, which was “Improve the Shining Moments” by Robert B. Baird (the tune still used today).  The text itself has had a few edits over the years, particularly for the 1992 Himnos (see Table 1).

 

Figure 1. “La Proclamación” in the 1912 Himnos de Sion.

 

Table 1. Variations in text of La Proclamación over the course of Church Publications.  Changes from the 1912 edition are bolded.

1912	1942	1992
1. La voz, ya, del Eterno, Nos llama otra vez, A que seamos justos, Cumpliendo con su ley; Que nos amemos todos Sin mal ni altivez; Y que al desgraciado, Llevemos á la mies.	1. La voz, ya, del Eterno Nos llama otra vez, A que seamos justos, Cumpliendo con su ley. Que nos amemos todos Sin mal ni altivez; Y que al descarriado, Llevemos a la mies.	1. La voz, ya, del Eterno nos llama otra vez a que seamos justos, cumpliendo con Su ley. Que nos amemos todos sin mal ni altivez, y que al descarriado llevemos a la mies.
2. Las vidas mejoremos, Amando la verdad; Los vicios despreciemos, El bien á conquistar; Pues es mejor la vida De paz y de bondad, Que negros sufrimientos En la eternidad.	2. Las vidas mejoremos, Amando la verdad, Los vicios despreciemos, El bien a conquistar. Pues es mejor la vida De paz y de bondad, Que negros sufrimientos En la eternidad.	2. Las vidas mejoremos, amando la verdad. Los vicios desechemos, y la iniquidad. Pues es mejor la vida de paz y de bondad que negros sufrimientos en la eternidad.
3. Con fe, con esperanza, Roguemos al Señor Que brillen nuestras vidas, Con celestial amor. Pues El jamás olvida Al mundo que formó, Llenándolo de dichas Y con la salvación.	3. Con fe, con esperanza, Roguemos al Señor, Que brillen nuestras vidas Con celestial amor. Pues él jamás olvida Al mundo que formó, Llenándolo de dichas, Y con la salvación.	3. Con fe, con esperanza, roguemos al Señor que brillen nuestras vidas con celestial amor Él nunca se olvida del mundo que formó, y quiere bendecirnos y darnos salvación.

 

 

I based my translation primarily on the 1992 version, since that is the form currently used in the Church (see Table 2).

 

Table 2. Translation of the text of “La Proclamación”

Original Text	Prose Translation	Poetic Translation
1. La voz, ya, del Eterno, Nos llama otra vez, A que seamos justos, Cumpliendo con su ley; Que nos amemos todos Sin mal ni altivez; Y que al desgraciado [descarriado], Llevemos á la mies.	1. The voice of the Eternal One now Calls us again, To be righteous, Fulfilling His law; That we love each other Without evil or arrogance; And all the unfortunate ones [And all the ones who have gone astray], Let’s take to the harvest.	1. The voice of the Eternal Now calls to us anew, To live in righteousness here, His law fulfilling too: To love each other always, No evil in our heart; To those who’ve gone astray here, The gospel we’ll impart.
2. Las vidas mejoremos, Amando la verdad; Los vicios despreciemos [desechemos], El bien á conquistar; Pues es major la vida De paz y de bondad, Que negros sufrimientos En la eternidad.	2. Lives improve, Loving the truth; The vices we despise [let us discard the vices], The good to conquer [And our iniquity]; Well, the life is better {that is} Of peace and kindness, Than black sufferings In eternity.	2. Let us improve our lives, and Love truth emphatically; Discarding all our vices, And our iniquity. Then life will be much better, A life of kindness, peace. But otherwise, dark suff’ring Will come and never cease.
3. Con fe, con esperanza, Roguemos al Señor; Que brillen nuestras vidas, Con celestial amor. Pues El jamás olvida [Él nunca se olvida] Al mundo que formó, Llenándolo de dichas [y quiere bendecirnos] Y con la salvation. [y darnos salvación.]	3. With faith, with hope, We pray to the Lord; Let our lives shine With heavenly love. For He never forgets The world that He formed, Filling it with His words [He wants to bless us] And with salvation. [And give us salvation]	3. With faith and with much hope, come: And pray unto our God. And let our lives shine brightly: With heav’nly love we trod. Our God will not forget us, The world that He formed thus. And He desires to bless us, Salvation giv’n to us.

Music:

The following is what the hymn would have appeared like if it had been printed with the indicated music in 1912:

 

The following links are to the form currently used in the Church’s hymnal:

Music file provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Music score provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 

My English translation of the hymn is as follows:

 

New Music:

As for my own setting of the hymn, here is the music with the Spanish text from the 1992 hymnal:

And here is the new music with the English translation:

 

 

 

Footnotes:

^[1] Adrián Ochoa, “Look Up,” CR October 2013, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/look-up.p15?lang=eng

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