Scripture Verse

A multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:13–14

Introduction

Words & Music: Mar­ga­ret C. Brown, in Pri­ma­ry Teach­ers’ Ma­nu­al, ed­it­ed by Chris­to­pher R. Black­all et al. (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia, Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois & else­where: Am­eri­can Bap­tist Pub­li­ca­tion So­ci­ety, 1913), num­ber 68 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Brown (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

illustration
Angels Announcing Christ’s Birth to the Shepherds
Govert Flinck, 1639

The sheep lay on the gras­sy plains,
The night was calm and clear;
The shep­herds bent their heads to catch
The mu­sic draw­ing near.
The sky grew bright with won­drous light,
The air was filled with song
That came from Hea­ven to earth that night
From white-robed an­gel throng.

A lit­tle child was born to­day,
God’s gift from Heav’n ab­ove;
Sent down to save the earth from sin,
To teach all men to love.
Peace, peace, to men, for Love is born!
Was ev­er song more sweet?
Peace, peace to men! The song of joy
The gras­sy hills re­peat.

The mes­sage of good­will to men
The an­gels sang that night,
Is ring­ing still thro’ all the earth,
And mak­ing dark­ness light.
Sing, child­ren, and re­peat the song
That thro’ the star­light rang;
Sing, sing of joy and peace and love,
The song the an­gels sang.