The text was written by William Chatterton Dix, who was born in Bristol, England, on June 14, 1837. Educated at the Bristol Grammar School, William entered the mercantile business and rose to become the manager of a marine insurance company in Glasgow, Scotland. Even though he possessed only a scanty academic training, he was an excellent student and produced a large number of hymns, over forty, some which are metrical renderings of English translations from the Greek. Perhaps Dix’s best-known songs generally are “What Child Is This?” and “As With Gladness Men of Old”¹. This hymn was originally called “Redemption through the Precious Blood” and was inspired by Revelation 5:9, “And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy . . . for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood”². Below is my favourite version of this hymn:

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the scepter, his the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, his the vict’ry, his alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation hath redeemed us by his blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us, faith believes, nor questions how;

Though the cloud from sight received him when the forty days were o’er,
Shall our hearts forget his promise, ‘I am with you evermore’?
Alleluia! Hread of heaven, here on earth our food and stay!
Alleluia! Here the sinful flee to thee from day to day.

Intercessor, Friend of sinners, earth’s Redeemer, plead for me.
Where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia! King eternal, thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! Born of Mary, earth thy footstool, heaven thy throne.
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh, our great High Priest.
Thou on earth both Priest and Victim in the Eucharistic Feast.

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the scepter, his the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, his the vict’ry, his alone.

¹hymnstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/quotalleluia-sing-to-jesusquot/
²tribuneonlineng.com/story-behind-the-hymn-alleluia-sing-to-jesus/