A Child Is Born In Bethlehem

A Child is born in Bethlehem And joyful is Jerusalem

Translator: Richard F. Littledale
Tune: SHALEM
Published in 1 hymnal

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 A Child is born in Bethlehem
And joyful is Jerusalem.
He lies within a lowly stall,
The King who reigneth over all.

2 The ox and ass beheld that sight,
And knew Him for the Lord of Might.
The wise men hasten to their king,
And gold, and myrrh, and incense bring.

3 Sprung from no mortal father, He
Is born of pure virginity.
Unwounded by the serpent’s tooth,
He comes to us a man in sooth.

4 Like to the flesh man dwelleth in,
But all unlike to man in sin.
That He might bring our mortal race
Back to the image of His face.

5 A Child is born in Bethlehem,
And joyful is Jerusalem.
Now upon this, His natal day,
Bless we our infant Lord alway.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #10692

Translator: Richard F. Littledale

Richard Frederick Littledale (b. Dublin, 1833; d. London, 1890) entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a foundation scholar, graduated with a bachelors degree in classics, a Masters of Divinity in 1858, then a Bachelors and Doctorate in Civil Law at Oxford in 1862. From 1856 to 1857 he was the curate of St. Matthew in Thorpe Hamlet, Norfolk, and from 1857 to 1861 was the curate of St. Mary the Virgin, in Soho, London. For the remainder of his life he suffered from chronic illness and spent most of his time writing. He authored many books and pamphlets on Anglican liturgy, theology, and the church’s engagement with society, and completed his good friend John Mason Neale’s work on the psalms after Neale died in 1866. Laura de Jong… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: A Child is born in Bethlehem And joyful is Jerusalem
Title: A Child Is Born In Bethlehem
Latin Title: Puer natus in Bethlehem
Translator: Richard F. Littledale
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Source: Possibly from a 14th Century Benedictine processional from the monastery of St. Georg, Hradlisch, near Olmütz , Czech Republic)
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #10692
  • PDF (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer Score (NWC)

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The Cyber Hymnal #10692

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