Scripture Verse

God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Introduction

Words: Jo­seph Will­iams, Christ­mas Min­strel­sy (Lon­don & Man­ches­ter, Eng­land: No­vel­lo & Brem­ner, 1864), num­ber 24, alt.

Music: Fran­stadt Mel­chi­or Tesch­ner, 1613. Ar­ranged by Hen­ry J. Gaunt­lett, 1864 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Henry Gauntlett
(1805–1876)
National Portrait Gallery

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Lyrics

Young men and maid­ens raise,
On this tri­um­phant morn,
A grate­ful song of heart­felt praise
To Christ at Beth­le’m born;
Your voic­es loud and sweet,
Expressive of your heart,
May sing to Him in prais­es meet,
And sor­row all depart.

The Fa­ther, from His throne,
The world’s cre­at­or gave
His well be­lov­ed, His on­ly Son,
A ru­ined world to save.
By faith from coun­tries far,
The east­ern ma­gi came,
Led by a bright and dazz­ling star,
To wor­ship at His fane.

The in­fant Christ they found,
And love­ly was the sight,
Their peace and joy would now ab­ound,
And praise be their de­light;
With wor­ship Him they greet,
Nor could they gifts with­hold,
But hum­bly lay at Je­su’s feet
Myrrh, frank­in­cense, and gold.

We of­fer Thee, good Lord,
Our hum­ble sac­ri­fice;
A con­trite heart, dec­lares Thy word,
Thou ne­ver will des­pise.
O Lord, ac­cept the gift
Of our un­hal­lowed heart,
Our souls at last to Hea­ven lift,
To dwell where now Thou art.