Hark! a burst of hea­ven­ly mu­sic,
From a band of se­raphs bright,
Suddenly to earth des­cend­ing,
In the calm and si­lent night:
To the shep­herds of Ju­dea,
Watching in the ear­li­est dawn,
Lo, they bear the joy­ful tid­ings,
Jesus, Prince of Peace, is born!
Sweet and clear those an­gel voic­es,
Echoing through the star­ry sky,
As they chant the hea­ven­ly cho­rus,
Glory be to God on high!

And this joy­ful Christ­mas morn­ing
Breaking o’er the world be­low,
Tells again the won­drous sto­ry
Shepherds heard so long ago.
Who shall still our tune­ful voic­es,
Who the tide of praise shall stem,
Which the bless­èd an­gels taught us
In the fields of Beth­le­hem?
Hark, we hear again the cho­rus,
Ringing through the star­ry sky;
And we join the hea­ven­ly an­them,
Glory be to God on high!