Scripture Verse

God…hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18

Introduction

Words: Cy­ri­acus Schnee­gass, pro­ba­bly first pub­lished in Wei­he­nacht und New Jahrs-Ge­säng (Er­furt, Ger­ma­ny: 1595) (Das neu­ge­bor­ne Kin­de­lein). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ema­nu­el Cron­en­wett in the Ev­an­ge­li­cal Lu­ther­an Hym­nal (Co­lum­bus, Ohio: Ohio Sy­no­di­cal Print­ing House, 1880), num­ber 46.

Music: Al­stone Chris­to­pher E. Will­ing, in the ap­pen­dix to Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1868 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Will­ing (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Emanuel Cronenwett
(1841–1931)

Lyrics

The new-born Child this ear­ly morn,
The dear Christ-Child of vir­gin born,
Again brings from His heav’n­ly home
A New Year to all Chris­ten­dom.

This caus­es joy to an­gels fair,
Who love to keep us in their care;
They sing that in this won­drous Child
God now with man is re­con­ciled.

If God be re­con­ciled with men,
What harm can Sa­tan do us then?
O’er Sa­tan, death, and gates of hell,
This Christ-Child shall for us pre­vail.

He brings the year of ju­bi­lee!
Why doubt we yet de­spond­ent­ly?
Cheer up! This is a joy­ous day,
The Christ-Child drives all care away.