Oh come ye, come hither,
Oh come ye, come hither,
Oh come ye, come hither
To worship the Lord.

2 True Son of the Father,
He comes from the skies;
To be born of a Virgin
He doth not despise.

To Bethlehem hasten, etc.

3 Hark! hark to the angels!
All singing in heaven,
"To God in the highest
All glory be given!"

To Bethlehem hasten, etc.

4 To Thee, then, O Jesus,
This day of Thy birth,
Be glory and honor

Through heaven and earth;
True Godhead incarnate!
Omnipotent Word!

Oh come, let us hasten,
Oh come, let us hasten,
Oh come, let us hasten

To worship the Lord!

Anon. (Latin, 17th Cent.) Tr. E. Caswall-Schaff.

187

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 th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King."

7s. 81.

2 Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold Him come,
Offspring of the Virgin's womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the Incarnate Deity,

Pleased as man with men to dwell;
Jesus, our Emmanuel!

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King."

3 Hail, the heaven-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.
Hark! the herald angels sing,

Glory to the new-born King.'

C. Wesley; alt. G. Whitefield; M. Madan; Suppl. to New Version; J. Kempthorne.

188

He has come, the Christ of God;
Left for us His glad abode ;
Stooping from His throne of bliss,
To this darksome wilderness.
He has come, the Prince of Peace!
Come to bid our sorrows cease;
Come to scatter, with His light,
All the shadows of our night.

2 He, the mighty King, has come,
Making this poor earth His home;
Come to bear our sin's sad load,
Son of David, Son of God.

7s. 81.

He has come, whose name of grace
Speaks deliverance to our race;
Left for us His glad abode,
Son of Mary, Son of God.

3 Unto us a child is born;
Ne'er has earth beheld a morn
Out of all the morns of time
Half so glorious in its prime.
Unto us a son is given;

He has come from God's own heaven,
Bringing with Him from above
Holy peace and holy love.

189

H. Bonar.

8s, 7s. 81.

HARK! what mean those holy voices,
Sweetly sounding through the skies?
Lo! th' angelic host rejoices,
Heavenly alleluias rise.

2 Listen to the wondrous story

Which they chant in hymns of joy : "Glory in the highest, glory!

Glory be to God most high!

3 "Peace on earth, good-will from heaven,
Reaching far as man is found,
Souls redeemed, and sins forgiven,
Loud our golden harps shall sound.

4 "Christ is born, the great Anointed :
Heaven and earth His glory sing;
Glad receive whom God appointed
For your Prophet, Priest, and King.
5 Hasten, mortals, to adore Him;
Learn His name, and taste His joy;
Till in heaven ye sing before Him,
'Glory be to God most High!''

6 Let us learn the wondrous story
Of our great Redeemer's birth!
Spread the brightness of His glory
Till it cover all the earth.

190

J. Cawood.

10s. 61.

CHRISTIANS, awake, salute the happy morn, Whereon the Saviour of mankind was born; Rise to adore the mystery of love,

Which hosts of angels chanted from above; With them the joyful tidings first begun Of God incarnate and the Virgin's Son.

2 Then to the watchful shepherds it was told, Who heard the angelic herald's voice : 'Behold,

I bring good tidings of a Saviour's birth To you and all the nations upon earth: This day hath God fulfilled His promised word,

This day is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord."

3 He spake; and straightway the celestial choir

In hymns of joy, unknown before, conspire :

The praises of redeeming love they sang, And heaven's whole arch with alleluias rang:

God's highest glory was their anthem still, Peace upon earth, and unto men good-will.

4 To Bethlehem straight the happy shepherds

ran,

To see the wonder God had wrought for

man:

And found, with Joseph and the blessèd

maid,

Her Son, the Saviour, in a manger laid; Amazed the wondrous story they proclaim, The earliest heralds of the Saviour's name.

5 Let us, like these good shepherds, then employ

Our grateful voices to proclaim the joy; Trace we the Babe, who hath retrieved our loss,

From His poor manger to His bitter cross; Treading His steps, assisted by His grace, Till man's first heavenly state again takes place.

191

J. Byrom.

L. M.

ALL praise to Thee, eternal Lord,
Cloth'd in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for Thy throne,
While worlds on worlds are Thine alone.

2 Once did the skies before Thee bow:
A virgin's arms contain Thee now;
Angels, who did in Thee rejoice,
Now listen for Thine infant voice.

3 A little child, Thou art our guest,
That weary ones in Thee may rest
Forlorn and lowly is Thy birth,
That we may rise to heaven from earth.

4 Thou comest in the darksome night,
To make us children of the light,
To make us, in the realms divine,
Like Thine own angels, round Thee shine.

5 All this for us Thy love hath done;
By this to Thee our love is won;
For this we tune our cheerful lays,
And shout our thanks in ceaseless praise.
Martin Luther.