Scripture Verse

She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

Introduction

portrait
William A. Ogden (1841–1897)

Words: Ed­ward A. Wash­burn (1819–1881).

Music: Will­iam A. Og­den, The Sil­ver Song (To­le­do, Ohio: Will­ard W. Whit­ney, 1870), num­ber 86 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Edward A. Washburn (1819–1881)

Lyrics

Ring out the bells for Christ­mas,
The hap­py, hap­py day;
In win­ter wild, the ho­ly Child
Within the cra­dle lay.
O won­der­ful! the Sav­ior
Is in the man­ger lone;
His pa­lace is a stable,
And Ma­ry’s arms His throne.

Refrain

Ring out the bells for Christ­mas,
The mer­ry, mer­ry Christ­mas,
Ring out the bells for Christ­mas,
The hap­py, hap­py day.

On Beth’lem’s quiet hill­side,
In ag­es long gone by,
In an­gel notes the glo­ry floats,
Glory to God on high.
Yet wakes the sun as joy­ous
As when the Lord was born,
And still He comes to greet you
On ev­ery Christ­mas morn.

Refrain

Where’er His sweet lambs ga­ther,
Within this gen­tle fold
The Sav­ior dear is wait­ing near,
As in the days of old.
In each young heart you see Him,
In ev­ery guile­less face,
You see the ho­ly Je­sus,
Who grew in truth and grace.

Refrain

In many a dark­some cot­tage,
In many a crowd­ed street,
In win­ter bleak, with shi­ver­ing cheek,
The home­less child you meet.
Gaze up­on the pale, wan fea­tures,
The feet with wan­der­ing sore.
You see the souls He lov­eth,
The Christ child at the door.

Refrain

Then sing your glad­some ca­rols,
And hail the new­born Sun;
For Christ­mas light is pass­ing bright,
It smiles on ev­ery­one;
And feast Christ’s lit­tle child­ren,
His poor, his or­phans call,
For He who chose the man­ger,
He lov­eth one and all.

Refrain