O lit-tle town of Beth-le-hem,
How still we see thee lie !
A-bove thy deep and dream-less sleep
The si-lent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shin-eth,
The ev-er-last-ing Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
For Christ is born of Ma-ry
And gath-ered all above
While mor - tals sleep, the an - gels keep
Their watch of won-dering love.
O morn -ing stars, to - geth- er,
Pro - claim the ho - ly birth,
And prais-es sing to God the King,
And peace _to men on earth!
How si-lently, how si-lently
The Won-dorus gift is given!
So God im-parts to hu-man hearts
The bless-ings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his com ing,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will re-ceive him, stil
The dear Christ en-ters in.
O ho-ly Child of Beth-le-hem,
De-scend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and en - ter in;
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christ-mas an - gels
The great glad ti-dings tell;
O come to us, a-bide with us,
Our Lord Em-man-u-el !
A-men