Glad was the mes­sage, and joy­ous the strain,
Brought to the shep­herds on Beth­le­hem’s plain;
Chanted by an­gels who came from above
Bearing glad tid­ings of mer­cy and love;
Bringing good news to the na­tions of earth,
News of a Sav­ior, whose glo­ri­ous birth
Gave to this sad world a mes­sage of peace,
Bidding its woe and its war­fare to cease.

Lo! in the man­ger the Sav­ior is laid;
Earth has no re­fuge, no place for His head;
Sojourner, stran­ger, and wan­derer here,
Dark was His lot, and His pil­grim­age drear;
But in His mer­cy and kind­ness He came,
Seeking to win us from sor­row and shame;
Bidding the trou­bled to come and be blessed;
Calling the way-worn and wea­ry to rest.

Oh, may we pon­der and keep in our mind
God’s won­drous mer­cy in sav­ing man­kind;
Sending His Son who, in seek­ing the lost,
Lay in the man­ger and hung on the cross;
Following Him, by His help and His grace,
We shall be with Him and gaze on His face;
Then with the ran­somed and glo­ri­fied throng,
We shall adore Him with harp and with song.