Shepherds their watch amid their flocks were keep­ing
Dim were the hills be­neath Ju­de­an skies,
When one bright se­raph, as the world lay sleep­ing,
With light ce­les­ti­al blessed their won­der­ing eyes.

Behold! I bring glad tid­ings to all peo­ple,
For un­to you, he cried, the Christ is born!
This is the news that rings from tower and stee­ple,
Throughout the land on ev­ery Christ­mas morn.

And then the an­gel told them of the man­ger,
Where lay the ho­ly Child, in poor ar­ray,
Where He, the King of kings, a home­less stran­ger,
For love of man was born on Christ­mas Day.

Then sud­den­ly, as if the courts of Hea­ven
Were ov­er­flow­ing with its joy and love,
A host of an­gels from the skies all riv­en,
Sang the high prais­es of the Lord above.

Glory to God! To God the high­est glo­ry!
And bene­dic­tions fell like sum­mer rain.
Peace up­on earth! un­til the world is hoa­ry,
No song so sweet will fall to earth again.