Christmas
To Shepherds As They Watched By Night
- Words:
- Martin Luther, 1543. translated by Richard Massie, 1854.
- Music:
- 'Vom Himmel Hoch' traditional German from Schumann's Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig, 1539.
- Setting:
- "Common Service Book" (ULCA), 1917.
- Metre:
- 8 8 8 8
- 1To shepherds as they watched by nightAppeared a host of angels bright;Behold the tender Babe, they said,In yonder lowly manger laid.
- 2At Bethlehem, in David's town,As Micah did of old make known;'Tis Jesus Christ, your Lord and King,Who doth to all salvation bring.
- 3Oh, then rejoice that through His SonGod is with sinners now at one;Made like yourselves of flesh and blood,Your Brother is th'eternal God.
- 4What harm can sin and death then do?The true God now abides with you.Let hell and Satan rage and chafe,Christ is your Brother ye are safe.
- 5Not one He will or can forsakeWho Him his confidence doth make.Let all his wiles the Tempter try,You may his utmost pow'rs defy.
- 6Ye shall and must at last prevail;God's own ye are, ye cannot fail.To God forever sing your praiseWith joy and patience all your days.
Scripture
Topics
In the hymnals
- The words are in 17 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
- The tune, Vom Himmel Hoch, is in 358 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. 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.