Christmas
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- Words:
- Traditional English.
- Music:
- 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' Traditional English.
- Setting:
- "Carols Old And Carols New", 1918.
- Metre:
- 8 6 7 6 8 6 8 4 8
- 1God rest ye merry, gentlemen,let nothing you dismay,Remember Christ our Saviorwas born on Christmas Day;To save us all from Satan's pow'rwhen we were gone astray.O tidings of comfort and joy,comfort and joy;O tidings of comfort and joy.
- 2In Bethlehem, in Israel, this blessèd Babe was born,And laid within a manger upon this blessèd morn;The which His mother Mary did nothing take in scorn.O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;O tidings of comfort and joy.
- 3From God our heav'nly Father a blessèd angel came;And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same;How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;O tidings of comfort and joy.
- 4"Fear not, then," said the angel,"Let nothing you afright This day is born a Savior of a pure Virgin bright,To free all those who trust in Him from Satan's pow'r and might."O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;O tidings of comfort and joy.
- 5The shepherds at those tidings rejoiced much in mind,And left their flocks afeeding in tempest, storm and wind,And went to Bethl'em straightaway this blessèd Babe to find.O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;O tidings of comfort and joy.
- 6But when to Bethlehem they came where our dear Savior lay,They found Him in a manger where oxen feed on hay;His mother Mary kneeling unto the Lord did pray.
- 7Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place,And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace;This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface.
- 8God bless the ruler of this house, and send him long to reign,And many a merry Christmas may live to see again;Among your friends and kindred that live both far and nearThat God send you a happy new year, happy new year,And God send you a happy new year.
Scripture
Topics
In the hymnals
- The words are in 147 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.