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THEY SPEAK TO ME OF PRINCELY TYRE

Scripture Verse

Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Micah 5:2

Introduction

portrait
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, Hymns of Faith and Hope, sec­ond ser­ies (Lon­don: James Nis­bet, 1861), pag­es 296–97, alt.

Music: I Speak of Beth­le­hem Scott Wer­de­baugh, 2019 (🔊 ).

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Scott Werdebaugh (1951–)

Lyrics

They speak to me of prince­ly Tyre,
That old Phoe­ni­cian gem,
Great Si­don’s daugh­ter of the north;
But I will speak of Beth­le­hem.

They speak of Rome and Ba­by­lon―
What can com­pare with them?
So let them praise their pride and pomp;
But I will speak of Beth­le­hem.

They praise the hun­dred-gat­ed Thebes,
Old Miz­ra­im’s di­adem,
The ci­ty of the sand-girt Nile,
But I will speak of Beth­le­hem.

They speak of Ath­ens, star of Greece,
Th’Acropolis of fame;
Its haunts of wis­dom, art so fair,
But I will speak of Beth­le­hem.

Dear town, where Heav’n came down to earth,
Where Jes­se’s stem did bloom,
Where Ja­cob’s star first shone; of thee
I’ll speak, O hap­py Beth­le­hem!