Oh! the Christ­mas bells are ring­ing,
All the world is wide awake,
And the cho­rus as it ech­oes
Makes the migh­ty stee­ples shake.
Miles away its tide is swell­ing,
As if it would ne­ver cease,
And the bur­den of its mu­sic
Is a roll­ing wave of peace.

All the leaf­less branch­es, swing­ing,
In the cold De­cem­ber air,
Soft are breath­ing forth its ca­dence
Like the mur­mur of a pray­er;
And they bend above each oth­er
With their win­try robes of fleece
In a gen­tle bene­dic­tion
Breathing forth a hymn of peace.

So the pas­tor to his peo­ple,
On this bless­èd Christ­mas day,
Gives a les­son full of mean­ing
For each one to take away;
And he gen­tly bids the mourn­er,
Who from grief would seek re­lease,
At the cross to drop his bur­den,
Where the Sav­ior giv­eth peace.

Lo! the cross is full of heal­ing,
And the crown is ly­ing near
With its wealth of jew­els, gleam­ing,
Like the sunl­ight of a tear.
And to­day our hearts will glad­den—
May the ec­ho ne­ver cease
As we sing our love of Je­sus
Who will crown us with His peace.

Peace on earth! How dear the bless­ing
As it comes from Hea­ven and here
Drops its ten­der­ness upon us
At the clos­ing of the year.
So abid­ing in God’s keep­ing
With the bells, our hearts will chime
Peace on earth! Oh, gra­cious pr­omise!
Peace on earth, at Christ­mas time.