Glory be to God on high, And peace on earth descend

Verse 1
Glory be to God on high,
And peace on earth descend;
God comes[1] down: he bows the sky:
And shews himself our friend!
God th’ invisible appears,
God the blest, the great I AM
Sojourns in this vale of tears,
And Jesus is his name.

Verse 2
Him the angels all ador’d
Their Maker and their King:
Tidings of their humbled Lord
They now to mortals bring:
Emptied of his majesty,
Of his dazling glories shorn,
Being’s source begins to be,
And God himself is BORN!

Verse 3
See th’ eternal Son of God
A mortal Son of man,
Dwelling in an earthy[2] clod
Whom heaven cannot contain!
Stand amaz’d ye heavens at this!
See the Lord of earth and skies!
Humbled to the dust he is,
And in a manger lies!

Verse 4
We the sons of men rejoice,
The Prince of Peace proclaim,
With heaven’s host[3] lift up our[4] voice,
And shout Immanuel’s name;
Knees and hearts to him we bow;
Of our flesh, and of our bone
Jesus is our brother now,
And God is all our own!

[1] Wesley changed “comes” to “came” in 1750 and 1755, but returned to “comes” afterwards.
[2] Wesley changed “earthy” to “earthly” in 1755.
[3] Wesley changed “host” to “hosts” in 1761, but returned to “host” afterwards.
[4] Wesley changed “our” to “your” in 1755 and 1768, but returned to “our” afterwards.

Hymnal/Album: Introduced in Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord, published by Charles Wesley (1745). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 4 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1869), page 108, 221.
Publishing: Public Domain