Christmas Hymn
ANGELS FROM THE REALMS OF GLORY
VERSE 1
Angels, from the reams of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye, who sang creation’s story,
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth,
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
VERSE 2
Shepherds in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night.
God in man is now residing:
Yonder shines the Infant light,
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
VERSE 3
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions gleam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen his natal star,
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
VERSE 4
Saint before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord descending,
In His temple shall appear,
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH
VERSE 1
Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strain.
CHORUS
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
VERSE 2
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be,
Which inspire your joyous song.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
VERSE 3
Come to Bethlehem, and see
Him whose birth the angles sing;
Come, adore on bended knee,
Christ the Lord, the new-born king.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
VERSE 4
See Him in a manger laid
Whom the choirs of angels praise!
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid
While our hearts in love we raise.
Gloria in excelsis Deo
AS WITH GLADNESS MEN OF OLD
VERSE 1
As with gladness men of old
Did the guiding star behold,
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright;
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Ever more be Led to Thee.
VERSE 2
As with joyful steps they sped
Saviour to Thy lowly bed,
There to bend the knee before Thee,
Whom heav’n and earth adore;
So many we with willing feet
Ever seek thy mercy-seat.
VERSE 3
Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.
VERSE 4
In the heavenly country bright
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down,
There for ever may we sing
Hallelujah to our King
AWAY IN A MANGER
VERSE 1
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down
Where He lay;
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
VERSE 2
The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus!
Look down from the sky;
And stay by my side until morning is nigh.
VERSE 3
Be near me, Lord Jesus: I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care;
And fit us to heaven, to live with Thee there
BETHLEHEM! OF NOBLEST CITIES
VERSE 1
Bethlehem! Of noblest cities,
None can once with thee compare;
Thou alone, the Lord from heaven,
Didst for us incarnate bear.
VERSE 2
Fairer than the sun at morning,
Was the star that told His birth;
To the lands their God announcing,
Hid beneath a form of earth.
VERSE 3
By its lambent beauty guided,
See, the eastern kings appear;
See them bend, their gifts to offer,
Gifts of incense, gold, and myrrh.
VERSE 4
Solemn things of mystic meaning!
Incense doth the God disclose;
Gold a royal Child proclaimeth;
Myrrh a future tomb foreshows.
VERSE 5
Holy Jesus, in thy brightness,
To the gentile world display’d,
With the Father and the Spirit,
Endless praise to thee be paid
CHRISTMAS COMES TO BLESS
VERSE 1
Christmas comes to bless the earth,
With its wondrous heavenly birth,
Bright and high the dawning light,
Burning through the gloom of night.
VERSE 2
God hath come with men to dwell,
In this message hard to tell,
God the Son, the one Divine,
Sent below from heaven thine.
VERSE 3
Glory to the Father be,
Sing the angels all to thee,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
All in one our praises most.
COME, ROCK THE CRADLE FOR HIM
VERSE 1
Come, rock the cradle for Him,
Come, in the crib adore Him,
Dull care, I pray you, bury:
And in the Lord make merry,
Sweet little Jesu, sweet little Jesu.
VERSE 2
Come rock his cradle lowly,
The throne of God all holy:
Come worship and adore Him,
And kneel we down before Him,
Sweet little Jesu, Sweet little Jesu.
VERSE 3
Do nothing to annoy Him,
But everything to joy Him:
For sin by night or morrow,
Would cause Him pain and sorrow,
Sweet little Jesu, sweet little Jesu.
VERSE 4
So at your hour of dying,
This Babe in cradle lying,
For He is king supernal’
Shall grant you rest eternal,
Sweet little Jesu, sweet little Jesu
GOD REST YOU MERRY, GENTLEMEN
VERSE 1
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray.
CHORUS
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.
VERSE 2
From God, our heav’nly Father,
A blessed angel came;
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name
GOOD CHRISTIAN MEN, REJOICE
VERSE 1
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Give you heed to what we say: news, news.
Jesus Christ is born today!
Ox and ass before him bow,
And He’s in the manger now.
Christ is born today: Christ is born today!
VERSE 2
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Now you hear of endless bliss: joy, joy.
Jesus Christ was born for this!
He hath opened heaven’s door.
And man is blessed evermore.
Christ was born for this!
Christ was born for this!
VERSE 3
Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice;
Now you need not fear the grave: peace, peace.
Jesus Christ was born to save!
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall.
Christ was born to save!
Christ was born to save!
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN
CHORUS
Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere,
Go tell it on the mountain,
Our Jesus Christ is born.
VERSE 1
When l was a learner,
L sought both night and day;
I asked the Lord to help me,
And he showed me the way.
VERSE 2
While shepherds kept their watching
O’er wand’ring flocks at night;
Behold from out of heavens
There came a holy light.
VERSE 3
Lo, when they had seen it,
They all bowed down and prayed;
They travelled on together
To where the babe was laid
HARK! A HERALD VOICE IS SOUNDING
VERSE 1
Hark! A herald voice is sounding,
“Christ is nigh!” It seems to say;
“Cast away the dreams of darkness,
O ye children of the day!”
VERSE 2
Startled at the solemn warning,
Let the earth-bound soul arise;
Christ her sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.
VERSE 3
Lo! The Lamb so long expected,
Come with pardon down from heaven;
Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,
One and all to be forgiven.
VERSE 4
So when next he comes with glory,
Shrouding all the earth in fear,
May he then as our defender,
On the clouds of heaven appear.
VERSE 5
Honour, glory, virtue, merit,
To the Father and the Son,
With the co-eternal Spirit,
While eternal ages run
HARK! THE HEARLD ANGELS SING
VERSE 1
Hark! The herald angels sing:
“Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild:
God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic hosts proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
CHORUS
Hark! The herald angels sing:
“Glory to the new-born King.”
VERSE 2
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth
HEROD, WHY THRILLS THY HEART
VERSE 1
Herod, why thrills thy heart with fear?
The royal Babe thou seekest here
Envies no earthly toys, for he
A heavenly crown doth offer thee.
VERSE 2
In haste to Bethlehem that day
The wise men took their star-led way,
Their light to seek, where light doth shew,
Gifts on the Giver to bestow.
VERSE 3
Killed at the tyrant’s anxious call,
For Christ a thousand victims fall;
And mothers’ hearts the piteous tale
Of murdered innocents bewail.
VERSE 4
Lo, dipped in Jordan’s cleansing stream,
The Lamb of God would whiter seem;
Yet ’twas our sins, in foul array,
He bore, and bearing washed away.
VERSE 5
Marvels the Pharisees refute
That would his heavenly birth dispute;
The sick no more with fever burn,
And at his voice the dead return.
VERSE 6
New evidence of Wondrous power
Behold in Cana’s marriage-dower;
Swift its own nature to resign,
The water blushes into wine
JOY TO THE WORLD
VERSE 1
Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing.
VERSE 2
Joy to the world! The Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
VERSE 3
He rules the world, with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, and wonders of his love
MARY HAD A BABY
VERSE 1
Mary had a baby, yes, my Lord,
Mary had a baby, Lord,
Mary had a baby, yes, my Lord;
And the angels in the heavens are singing.
VERSE 2
What did she name him, yes, my Lord,
What did she name him Lord?
What did she name him, yes, my Lord;
And the angels in the heavens are singing.
VERSE 3
Named him King Jesus, yes, my Lord,
Named him King Jesus, Lord,
Named him King Jesus, yes, my Lord;
And the angels in the heavens are singing.
VERSE 4
Where was he born, yes, my Lord,
Where was he born, Lord?
Where was he born, yes, my Lord;
And the angels in the heavens are singing.
VERSE 5
Born in a manger, yes, my Lord,
Born in a manger, Lord,
Born in a manger, yes, my Lord;
And the angels in the heavens are singing
MARY’S BOY CHILD
VERSE 1
Long time ago in Bethlehem
So the Holy Bible says,
Mary’s Boy Child Jesus Christ,
Was born on Christmas Day.
CHORUS
Hark now hear the angels sing,
A new King born today,
And man will live for evermore,
Because of Christmas Day.
VERSE 2
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
They saw a bright new shining star,
They heard a choir sing,
The music seemed to come from afar.
VERSE 3
Now Joseph and his wife Mary,
Came to Bethlehem that night,
She found no place to bear her child,
Not a single room was in sight.
VERSE 4
By and by they found a little nook,
In a stable all forlorn,
And in a manger cold and dark,
Mary’s little boy was born
O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL
VERSE 1
O come all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of angels:
CHORUS
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
VERSE 2
Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above,
Glory to God
In the highest glory:
VERSE 3
Saviour, we greet you,
Born this happy morning,
Jesus, to you be all glory given;
Word of the Father,
Now in the flesh appearing
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
VERSE 1
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years,
Are met in thee tonight.
VERSE 2
For Christ is born of Mary;
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
VERSE 3
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin;
Where meek souls will receive Him, still
The dear Christ enters in
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY
VERSE 1
Once in royal David’s city,
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby,
In a manger for His bed.
Mary was that Mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little Child.
VERSE 2
He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all;
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall,
With the poor and mean and lowly,
Lived on earth, our Saviour holy.
VERSE 3
And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in Heaven above;
And He leads His children on,
To the place where He is gone.
VERSE 4
Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by;
We shall see Him but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high.
When like star His children crowned,
All in white shall wait around
SEE AMID THE WINTER’S SNOW
CHORUS
Hail thou ever-blessed morn,
Hail redemption’s happy dawn,
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
VERSE 1
See, amid the winter’s snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See, the tender Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.
VERSE 2
Lo, within a manger lies,
He, who built the starry skies,
He, who throned in height sublime,
Sits amid the Cherubim.
VERSE 3
Say, ye holy shepherds, say,
What your joyful news today,
Wherefore have ye left your sheep,
On the lonely mountain steep.
VERSE 4
As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light,
Angels singing “peace on earth,
Told us of the Saviour’s birth.”
VERSE 5
Sacred Infant, all divine,
What a tender love was thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss,
Down to such a world as this
SILENT NIGHT
VERSE 1
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright,
’Round yon Virgin Mother and Child;
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
VERSE 2
Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav’nly hosts sing alleluia.
Christ, the Saviour, is born,
Christ, the Saviour, is born.
VERSE 3
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light,
Radiant beams from your holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at your birth,
Jesus, Lord, at your birth!
SLEEP HOLY BABE
VERSE 1
Sleep Holy Babe,
Upon thy Mother’s breast,
Great Lord of earth and sea and sky,
How sweet it is to see Thee lie
In such a place of rest.
VERSE 2
Sleep Holy Babe,
Thine angels watch around;
All bending low with folded wings,
Before th’ Incarnate King of Kings,
In reverent awe profound.
VERSE 3
Sleep Holy Babe,
While I with Mary gaze,
In joy upon that face awhile,
Upon the loving Infant smile,
Which there divinely plays.
VERSE 4
Sleep Holy Babe,
Ah, take thy brief repose;
Too quickly will thy slumbers break
And thou to lengthened pains awake,
That death alone shall close.
VERSE 5
O Lady blest,
Sweet Virgin hear my cry;
Forgive the wrong that I have done
To Thee, in causing thy dear Son
Upon the Cross to die.
UNTO US IS BORN A SON
VERSE 1
Unto us is born a Son,
Kind of quires supernal,
See on earth His life begun,
Of lords the Lord eternal.
VERSE 2
Christ, from heav’n descending low,
Comes on earth a stranger;
Ox and ass their Owner know
Be cradled in a manger.
VERSE 3
This did Herod sore affray,
And grievously bewilder;
So he gave the word to slay,
And slew the little children.
VERSE 4
Of his love and mercy mild
This the Christmas story:
And O that Mary’s gentle Child
Might lead us up to glory!
VERSE 5
O and A and A and O.
Cum cantibus in choro.
Let the merry organ go,
Benedicamus Domino
THE FIRST NOEL
VERSE 1
The first Noel, the angel did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds,
In fields as they lay,
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night,
That was so deep.
CHORUS
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
VERSE 2
They look’d above and there saw a star,
That shone in the east beyond them afar,
And which to earth did give great light,
And so it continued by day and night.
VERSE 3
And by the light of that same Star,
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.
VERSE 4
This star drew near to the north-west,
At length over Bethlehem seemed to rest,
And there it stayed by night and by day,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.
VERSE 5
Then entered in those wise men three
Most reverently with bended knee;
And offered there in His presence,
Both gold and myrrh with frankincense.
VERSE 6
Then let us all with one accord,
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
That made both heaven and earth of nought,
And with His blood mankind has bought
WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT
VERSE 1
We three kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar;
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
CHORUS
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
VERSE 2
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain,
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.
VERSE 3
Frankincense to offer have I,
Incense owns a Deity nigh,
Prayer and praising, all men raising,
Worship Him, God most high.
VERSE 4
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume,
Breathes a life of gathering gloom,
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
VERSE 5
Glorious now, behold Him arise,
King and God, and sacrifice,
Alleluia, alleluia! Earth to
The heaven replies
WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED
VERSE 1
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground;
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around,
And glory shone around.
VERSE 2
“Fear not!” said he – for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind, –
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
To you and all mankind,
To you and all mankind.”
VERSE 3
To you, in David’s town, this day,
Is born of David’s line
The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;
And this shall be the sign,
And this shall be the sign.
VERSE 4
“The heavenly Babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid,
And in a manger laid.”
VERSE 5
Thus spoke the seraph – and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels, praising God, who thus
Addressed their joyful song,
Addressed their joyful song.
VERSE 6
“All glory be to God on high!
And on the earth be peace!
Good-will hence forth from heaven to men
Begin and never cease,
Begin and never cease!”