Scripture Verse

Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:12

Introduction

Words: Tra­di­tion­al Eng­lish. Pub­lished in The ca­rol, ed­it­ed by Charles W. Wendte (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: John Church, 1886), page 151.

Music: Te­kir­dağ, ano­ny­mous, 1886 (🔊 pdf nwc). Re­peats last two lines of each verse.

Lyrics

God give ye mer­ry Christ­mas tide,
Ye gen­tle peo­ple all!
And in your mer­ry mak­ing may
No ev­il chance befall;
Rejoice! for once at Beth­le­hem
While shep­herds knelt to pray,
Our bless­èd Mas­ter, Je­sus Christ,
Was born on Christ­mas day;
Our bless­èd Mas­ter, Je­sus Christ,
Was born on Christ­mas day.

Ye hang the twin­ing win­ter-green,
The glad home fires ye light,
And cheery Mer­ry Christ­mas keep,
With hearts and voic­es bright;
But in a stall at Beth­le­hem,
Where simple shep­herds pray,
Our bless­èd Mas­ter, Je­us Christ,
Was born on Christ­mas day;
Our bless­èd Mas­ter, Je­sus Christ,
Was born on Christ­mas day.

The win­try wind blows chill against
The ho­vel’s creak­ing door;
Hard by the earth the drive­n snow
Lies drift­ed on the floor.
And cheer­less once at Beth­le­hem
The lowly man­ger lay,
Where Je­sus Christ, our bless­èd Lord,
Was born on Christ­mas day,
Where Je­sus Christ, our bless­èd Lord,
Was born on Christ­mas day.

God give ye mer­ry Christ­mas-tide,
And give ye all to see
How bless­èd ’tis to give and know
The grace of cha­ri­ty;
Rejoice! for once at Beth­le­hem ,
To give His life away,
Our bless­èd Mas­ter, Je­sus Christ,
Was born on Christ­mas day;
Our blessèd Mas­ter, Je­sus Christ,
Was born on Christ­mas day.