Verse 1
Hark how all the welkin rings
“Glory to the King of kings,[1]
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconcil’d!
Verse 2
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
Universal nature say
“Christ the Lord is born to day!”
Verse 3
Christ, by highest heav’n ador’d,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Verse 4
Veil’d in flesh, the Godhead see,
Hail th’ incarnate deity!
Pleas’d as man with men t’ appear
Jesus, our Immanuel here!
Verse 5
Hail the heav’nly[2] Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Ris’n with healing in his wings.
Verse 6
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born—that man no more may die,
Born—to raise the sons of earth,
Born—to give them second birth.
Verse 7
Come, desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home,
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Verse 8
Now display thy saving pow’r,
Ruin’d nature now restore,
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to thine.
Verse 9
Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp thy image in its place,
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in thy love.
Verse 10
Let us thee, tho’ lost, regain,
Thee, the life, the inner[3] man:
O! To all thyself impart,
Form’d in each believing heart.
[1] The familiar modern version of the opening lines (“Hark! The herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the new-born king!’”) was a modification made by George Whitefield in Hymns for Social Worship (1753).
[2] Wesley changed “Heav’nly” to “heaven-born” in 1739.
[3] Wesley changed “inner” to “heav’nly” in 1743.