It Is Well With My Soul is a hymn by Horatio G. Spafford, a Chicago lawyer, written after his four daughters drowned when the ship Ville du Havre sank in the Atlantic in November 1873. Philip P. Bliss wrote the tune, and it was first printed in Gospel Hymns No. 2 in 1876. Its first line echoes Isaiah 66:12, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river," and its refrain says that faith in Christ holds even in grief.
Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer in Chicago and a friend of the evangelist D. L. Moody. In 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed much of the property he owned, and around that time his young son died. In November 1873 his wife Anna and their four daughters, Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta, sailed for Europe on the French steamer Ville du Havre; Horatio stayed behind on business and planned to follow. On November 22 the ship was struck by another vessel, the Loch Earn, and sank in about twelve minutes. All four girls were lost. Anna was found floating, unconscious, and when she reached Wales she sent her husband a telegram that began Saved alone. Spafford sailed at once to join her, and according to family accounts, when the captain told him they were passing over the place where the ship went down, he wrote the words that became this hymn. Bliss set them to music and named the tune after the ship. Spafford's story did not end in easy comfort: more loss came, and in 1881 the family moved to Jerusalem, where they spent their lives serving the poor. This page gives the hymn's words and the Bible verses in each line. For a list of Scriptures on peace in suffering, see our It Is Well With My Soul Bible verses.
It Is Well With My Soul: the words
Verse 1
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea-billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Verse 2
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Verse 3
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh, my soul!
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Verse 4
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Words: Horatio G. Spafford, written after the loss of his four daughters in November 1873, first printed with Philip P. Bliss's tune Ville du Havre in Gospel Hymns No. 2 (1876). All four stanzas as first printed in Gospel Hymns No. 2 (1876), No. 76, checked against a scan of that first printing; its dashes and quotation marks are printed here as commas. The refrain is printed without the echo parts that the choir sings in parentheses. Public domain. Spafford's handwritten draft has two more stanzas and ends with A song in the night, oh my soul.
When peace like a river, when sorrows like sea-billows roll
1. Isaiah 66:12
"For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees."
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way. Spafford's first image comes from the closing chapter of Isaiah, where God promises comfort to Jerusalem: Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. A river is not a puddle that dries up; it keeps flowing from a source beyond itself. The hymn begins with peace before it mentions sorrow. Peace like a river and sorrow like sea-billows can both be true on the same day, and the hymn holds them together.
2. Jonah 2:3
"For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me."
When sorrows like sea-billows roll. Billows are great waves. Spafford wrote these words at sea, near the place his daughters had drowned, and the line is almost unbearable to read with that in mind. Jonah, praying from inside the fish, used the same picture: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Scripture does not ask grieving people to pretend the waves are small. It gives them words to cry out with, and it shows that God hears from the bottom of the sea (Jonah 2:2).
3. Psalms 119:71
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say. Spafford's draft said Thou hast taught me to know; the printed hymn says to say. Either way, the peace in this hymn is learned, not natural. The psalmist says: It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. This verse should be handled gently. It is a confession that a person can make about their own suffering, looking back. It is not a line to say to someone in fresh grief. Spafford earned the right to sing it.
4. Philippians 4:11
"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
It is well, it is well with my soul. Paul wrote these words from prison: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Contentment in Scripture is not the absence of tears. Paul wept for others (Philippians 3:18), and Jesus wept at Lazarus's tomb (John 11:35). It is a settled trust underneath the tears. The words it is well recall the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:26, who said It is well while her son lay dead, because she was on her way to the man of God.
Though Satan should buffet: my helpless estate
5. 2 Corinthians 12:7
"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come. To buffet is to strike repeatedly with the fist. Paul used the word for his thorn in the flesh: there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Paul prayed three times for it to be taken away, and God answered, My grace is sufficient for thee (2 Corinthians 12:9). Spafford's stanza says the same: trials may keep coming, but they do not get the final word.
6. Psalms 136:23
"Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:"
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate. Estate here means condition or state. To regard is to look upon with care. The psalm gives thanks to God Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever. Mary used the same idea in her song: he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden (Luke 1:48). The comfort of this stanza is not that Spafford was strong. It is that Christ looked on him when he was helpless.
7. Romans 5:6
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
My helpless estate. Paul explains exactly when Christ came for us: For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. We did not have to get ourselves together first. Christ died for people who were helpless and ungodly. That is why the blest assurance of this stanza can control, that is, take charge of, the heart in a storm. Our standing with God does not depend on how well we are coping.
8. Revelation 1:5
"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,"
And hath shed His own blood for my soul. John opens Revelation with praise to Jesus Christ: Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Notice the order: He loved us, and then He washed us. The cross is not how Christ came to love us; it is how His love was shown. Spafford put the cross at the center of his hymn, because the cross is where the question of whether God loves us was answered once and for all.
My sin is nailed to His cross: Lord, haste the day
9. Isaiah 38:17
"Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back."
My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more. King Hezekiah, healed from a mortal illness, praised God: thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. All my sins, not some of them. Paul says that Christ blotted out the handwriting that was against us, nailing it to his cross (Colossians 2:14). Spafford's third stanza is the most joyful in the hymn, and it is the only one that ends with an exclamation.
10. Psalms 146:1
"Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul."
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh, my soul! The third stanza ends with the opening of one of the last psalms of praise: Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Speaking to your own soul is a biblical habit. The psalmists do it when they are cast down (Psalm 42:11) and when they are full of joy. Spafford, who had every reason to despair, tells his soul to praise. That is not denial; it is faith choosing where to look.
11. Revelation 6:14
"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places."
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The last stanza looks to the return of Christ. John saw the end of the present world in these terms: And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together. Spafford pictures the sky opening like a scroll being rolled up, the trumpet sounding and the Lord descending (1 Thessalonians 4:16). For a man whose children had been taken by the sea, the promise that the sea will give up its dead (Revelation 20:13) was no small thing.
12. Revelation 22:20
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight. The Bible ends with the same prayer: He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The hymn's last line, Even so, it is well with my soul, borrows those words, even so. Faith shall be sight means that what we now believe without seeing, we will one day see (2 Corinthians 5:7). Spafford's peace rested not only on the past, the cross, but on the future, the day of reunion.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, when peace flows like a river and when sorrow rolls like the sea, teach me to say, It is well with my soul. You looked on me in my helpless state and shed Your own blood for me. Thank You that my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to Your cross. Be near to everyone who is grieving today, and hold them when they cannot hold on. Strengthen my faith until it becomes sight, and haste the day when You return and every tear is wiped away. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the story behind It Is Well With My Soul?
In November 1873 Horatio Spafford's wife Anna and their four daughters sailed from New York on the Ville du Havre. On November 22 the ship collided with the Loch Earn and sank within minutes. The four girls died; Anna survived and cabled her husband, Saved alone. Sailing to meet her, Spafford passed near the spot where the ship went down, and family accounts say he wrote the hymn then. Philip Bliss set it to music, and it was published in 1876.
Is It Is Well With My Soul in the public domain?
Yes. Spafford's words and Bliss's tune Ville du Havre were published in 1876, and both men died in the 1800s, so the hymn is in the public domain. You may print and share the traditional words. Modern arrangements with new choruses, bridges or rewritten lines may be under copyright, so check before printing a recent version.
What Bible verse is It Is Well With My Soul based on?
The words it is well echo 2 Kings 4:26, where a grieving mother answers It is well. The first line draws on Isaiah 66:12 (peace like a river), the second stanza on 2 Corinthians 12:7 (buffet) and Romans 5:6, the third on Colossians 2:14 (nailing it to his cross), and the last on 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 22:20. Our companion page lists more It Is Well With My Soul Bible verses.
How many verses does It Is Well With My Soul have?
Most hymnals print four stanzas, as shown here. Spafford's handwritten draft has six; the two extra stanzas speak of living for Christ even if Jordan above me shall roll, and of waiting for His coming, the sky, not the grave, is our goal. The draft's last line was A song in the night, oh my soul, which became Even so, it is well with my soul in print.
If you have thoughts of harming yourself, in the US call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 in an emergency.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: It Is Well With My Soul Bible verses · Grief · Peace · Psalm 46 KJV · Strength in hard times · Amazing Grace · What a Friend We Have in Jesus · Heaven · Abide with Me (lyrics)
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