Twelve new songs were recently added to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ growing collection, “Hymns — For Home and Church,” according to a Thursday release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The dozen new songs — added in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French — include the Primary classic “When I Am Baptized,” plus other songs relating to Old Testament themes and stories.
“This is an exciting day,” said Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson, according to the church’s release. “Many of these hymns have ties with the Old Testament, and we think it’ll be a blessing to people in their study of the Bible.”
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ are currently studying the Old Testament as part of the church’s 2026 “Come, Follow Me” curriculum. The new hymns are expected to be another tool members can incorporate to deepen their study and understanding of the Old Testament.
“We study the (Old Testament) at home, and we study it in church, and the hymns help teach the doctrine and principles of the gospel with power and clarity,” President Johnson said.
The dozen new songs now available on the online Music Library and Gospel Library app include:
- “Joyfully Bound”
- “My Covenants”
- “When I Am Baptized”
- “The Power of the Holy Ghost”
- “Elijah and the Still, Small Voice”
- “Jesus Is My Shepherd”
- “My Song in the Night”
- “This Is My Father’s World”
- “Build an Ark”
- “Love Will Bless Our Home”
- “Lord, Accept Our Humble Fast”
- “Long Ago, Within a Garden”
The addition of these new hymns brings the total number of songs in “Hymns — For Home and Church” to 72 in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
Eleven hymns were also released today in German, Korean and Tagalog, according to the church’s release. And for the very first time, 13 new songs are being added in Cebuano, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Samoan, Tongan and Vietnamese.
About the new hymns — and how to use them
The version of “When I Am Baptized” that was added in this new batch is the most recent, which was released December 2025 after the song’s lyrics were updated to focus more on Jesus Christ and his atonement.
“‘When I Am Baptized’ is the first inclusion of a song with updated lyrics,” the church’s release states. It explains that this and any future lyric changes “focus on improving doctrinal clarity or replacing culturally outdated words and phrases.”
Of this Primary classic’s updated lyrics, Primary General President Susan H. Porter said the Book of Mormon clearly identifies the Savior as the “cleansing power, through the Holy Ghost, to cleanse our hearts from sin.”
“What a gift it is for children to know that once they are baptized, they can joyfully repent and be forgiven of their sins every day,” she said. “It will be as if their sins are washed away, but that washing will come through the blessing of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.”
Like the Primary classic “When I Am Baptized,” several of the other songs recently added teach simple truths in a small number of words and/or measures.
“Jesus Is My Shepherd” was inspired by Psalms 23, and the lyrics in its two short verses remind “all they are known and loved by the Savior Jesus Christ,” according to the church’s release.
“Elijah and the Still, Small Voice” tells the story of the Old Testament Prophet Elijah and how he eventually came to receive divine direction through a “still small voice.”
“I love this message,” President Johnson said of the song. “The Lord communicated with (Elijah) with a still, small voice, and I know that he can do that with us, too.”
Inspiration for “Long Ago, Within a Garden” came from a 1985 message shared by Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“As we read, ponder and pray, there will come into our minds a view of the three gardens of God — the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden of the Empty Tomb where Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene,” the apostle said in 1985.
President Johnson said in the church’s release that Latter-day Saints and others may use the new hymns by memorizing their lyrics and listening to the prerecorded songs throughout the day. He also encouraged members to teach from the new songs and sing them enthusiastically at home and at church.
“I would encourage you to do whatever you can to incorporate these new hymns into your life,” he said.