Christmas
O Little Town of Bethlehem
- Words:
- Phillips Brooks, 1867. Music: 'St. Louis' Lewis H. Redner, 1868. Setting: "The Chapel Hymnal", 1898.
- Metre:
- 8 6 8 6 7 6 8 6
- 1O little town of Bethlehem,how still we see thee lie!Above thy deep and dreamless sleepthe silent stars go by.Yet in thy dark streets shineththe everlasting Light;The hopes and fears of all the yearsare met in thee tonight.
- 2For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond'ring love.O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!
- 3How silently, how silently,the wondrous Gift is giv'n;So God imparts to human heartsthe blessings of His Heav'n.No ear may hear His coming,but in this world of sin,Where meek souls will receive Him still,the dear Christ enters in.
- 4Where children pure and happy pray to the blessèd Child,Where misery cries out to Thee,Son of the mother mild;Where charity stands watching and faith holds wide the door,The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, and Christmas comes once more.
- 5O holy Child of Bethlehem,descend to us, we pray;Cast out our sin, and enter in,be born in us today.We hear the Christmas angelsthe great glad tidings tell;O come to us, abide with us,our Lord Emmanuel!
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In the hymnals
- Written in 1868, the words are in 978 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
- The tune, St Louis, is in 603 hymnals. The tune →
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. Further sheet music is from PDHymns.com. 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.