Scripture Verse

There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? for We have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him. Matthew 2:1–2

Introduction

portrait
John Brownlie (1857–1925)

Words: Au­thor un­known. Trans­lat­ed to Eng­lish by John Brown­lie, Hymns of the Ear­ly Church (Lon­don: Mor­gan & Scott, 1913), pag­es 45–47.

Music: Bor­row Will­iam H. Bor­row, in Car­ols Old and Car­ols New, by Charles L. Hut­chins (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Par­ish Choir, 1916), num­ber 10 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

In the ear­ly morn­ing,
Ere the dark­ness clears,
Lo, a star most ra­di­ant,
High in hea­ven ap­pears;
And their eyes be­hold it,
Glowing like a gem,
As the sag­es jour­ney
Forth to Beth­le­hem.

In the ear­ly morn­ing,
While the shep­herds gaze,
Lo, through clouds asun­der,
Heaven is all ablaze;
Brighter than the sun­rise
From the east­ern hills,
And the song of an­gels
All cre­ation fills.

In the ear­ly morn­ing,
When the si­lence hung,
’Mid the daz­zling splen­dor,
Were the prais­es sung:
Glory in the high­est
To the God of Hea­ven,
Peace on earth abound­ing
Unto men be giv­en.

Now the sag­es, guid­ed
To the low­ly place,
Lying in a man­ger
Find the Lord of grace;
And they fall be­fore Him
As be­fore a king,
And their cost­ly of­fer­ings
With de­vo­tion bring.

Lord of life eter­nal,
Who didst come for men;
At the time ap­point­ed
Thou wilt come again;
Not a babe in meek­ness,
Born of hum­ble birth;
But the King im­mor­tal,
Judge of all the earth.

Glory in the high­est,
Be as­cribed to God;
Ceaseless hal­le­lu­jahs
Fill the earth abroad;
Glory to Im­ma­nu­el,
All cre­ation sing,
Who to Hea­ven hath raised us
By His of­fer­ing.

illustration
The Star of Bethlehem
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)