
There’s something deeply sacred about the quiet moments shared around a kitchen table. Family Bible taps into that stillness — the kind where the radio’s off, supper’s done, and someone gently hums a hymn from memory. Though made famous by others before him, Family Bible is a piece of Willie Nelson’s soul. He wrote it in the late 1950s during a time when he was struggling to make ends meet in Houston — a young songwriter selling songs just to pay the bills. This one, he sold for a mere $50 and a meal.
The song’s lyrics are simple, but they hold weight: the image of a mother reading scripture, the sound of children’s voices in prayer, and the lingering comfort of faith passed down through generations. That’s what makes it hit so close to home for so many. It’s not just about religion — it’s about memory, tradition, and the way certain songs feel like they’ve always been part of the family.
When Willie finally recorded Family Bible himself years later, it didn’t feel like a reclamation — it felt like a homecoming. You can hear it in his voice: gentle, reverent, weathered by time but still full of warmth. The kind of voice that doesn’t just sing the words — it remembers them.
If you’ve ever found peace in an old hymn, or felt grounded by the stories that echo through your family’s history, this song will feel like returning to your roots.
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Lyrics
[Verse 1]
There’s a family Bible on the table
It’s pages worn and hard to read
But the family Bible on the table
Will ever be my key to memories
[Verse 2]
At the end of day when work was over
And when the evening meal was done
Dad would read to us from the family Bible
And we’d count our many blessings one by one
[Chorus]
I can see us sitting ’round the table
When from the family Bible dad would read
And I can hear my mother softly singing
Rock of ages, rock of ages, cleft for me
[Verse 3]
Now this old world of ours is full of trouble
This old world would also better be
If we found more Bibles on the table
And mothers singing rock of ages, cleft for me
[Chorus]
I can see us sitting ’round the table
When from the family Bible dad would read
And I can hear my mother softly singing
Rock of ages, rock of ages, cleft for me
Rock of ages, rock of ages, cleft for me