Scripture Verse

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2

Introduction

Words: Jo­hannes D. Falk, Au­ser­le­se­ne Werke (Leip­zig, Ger­ma­ny: 1816). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Beale M. Schmuck­er in the Wart­burg Hym­nal, ed­it­ed by O. Hard­wig (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Wart­burg Pub­lish­ing, 1918).

Music: Si­cil­ian Mar­in­ers, from the The Eu­ro­pe­an Ma­ga­zine and Lon­don Re­view, No­vem­ber 1792 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Schmuck­er (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Johannes Falk (1768–1826)

Lyrics

O thou joy­ful day, O thou bless­èd day,
Holy, peace­ful Christ­mas­tide!
O thou joy­ful day, O thou bless­èd day,
Holy, peace­ful Christ­mas­tide!
Earth’s hopes awak­en, Christ life has tak­en,
Laud Him, O laud Him on ev­ery side!

O thou joy­ful day, O thou bless­èd day,
Holy, peace­ful Christ­mas­tide!
O thou joy­ful day, O thou bless­èd day,
Holy, peace­ful Christ­mas­tide!
Christ’s light is beam­ing, our souls re­deem­ing,
Laud Him, O laud Him on ev­ery side!

O thou joy­ful day, O thou bless­èd day,
Holy, peace­ful Christ­mas­tide!
O thou joy­ful day, O thou bless­èd day,
Holy, peace­ful Christ­mas­tide!
King of all glo­ry, We bow be­fore Thee—
Laud Him, O laud Him on ev­ery side!