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: L. V. Wheel­er, in Col­lect­ion of Hymns for Pub­lic Wor­ship, ed­it­ed by Ben­ja­min Will­iams et al. (Sal­is­bu­ry, Eng­land: 1788).

Music: Christ­mas Eve (Zun­del) John Zun­del, in the Ply­mouth Col­lect­ion, by Hen­ry W. Beech­er (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1855), page 70 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know Wheel­er’s full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him or Zun­del (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Hark! what ce­les­ti­al sounds
What mu­sic fills the air!
Soft warb­ling to the morn,
It strikes the rav­ished ear:
Now all is still; now wild it floats,
In tune­ful notes, loud, sweet and shrill.

Th’an­gel­ic hosts des­cend,
With har­mo­ny di­vine:
See how from Heav’n they bend,
And in full cho­rus join:
Fear not, they say, Great joy we bring:
Jesus, your king, is born to­day.

He comes, your souls to save
From death’s eter­nal gloom;
To realms of bliss and light
He lifts you from the tomb:
Your voic­es raise, with sons of light;
Your songs unite of end­less praise.

Glory to God on high!
Ye mor­tals, spread the sound,
And let your rap­tures fly
To earth’s re­mot­est bound;
For peace on earth, from God in Heav’n,
To man is giv’n, at Je­sus’ birth.