Scripture Verse

There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Isaiah 11:1

Introduction

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns for the Na­ti­vi­ty of Our Lord (Lon­don: Will­iam Stra­han, 1745), num­ber 20.

Music: El­la­combe, Ge­sang­buch der herz­ogl. wir­tem­berg­isch­en ka­tho­lisch­en Hof­ka­pel­le (Würt­tem­berg, Ger­ma­ny: 1784). Adapt­ed & har­mo­nized by Will­iam H. Monk in the 1868 ap­pen­dix to Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, num­ber 366 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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William H. Monk (1823–1889)

Lyrics

Branch of Jes­se’s stem, arise,
And in our na­ture grow;
Turn our earth to pa­ra­dise,
By flour­ish­ing be­low:
Bless us with the Spi­rit of grace
Immeasurably shed on Thee;
Pour on all the faith­ful race
The stream­ing De­ity!

Let the Spi­rit of our Head
On all the mem­bers rest;
From Thy­self to us pro­ceed,
And dwell in ev­ery breast;
Teach to judge and act aright,
Inspire with wis­dom from above,
Holy faith and hea­ven­ly might,
And rev­er­en­tial love.

Lord, of Thee we fain would learn
Thy hea­ven­ly Fa­ther’s will;
Give us quickn­ess to dis­cern,
And bold­ness to ful­fill:
All His mind to us ex­plain,
And His name on us im­press,
Then our souls thro’ Thee at­tain
The spot­less right­eous­ness.