The Cyber Hymnal ‎#9631

9631. Bethlehem, Of Noblest Cities

1 Bethlehem, of noblest cities
None can once with thee compare;
Thou alone the Lord from Heaven
Didst for us incarnate bear.

2 Fairer than the sun at morning
Was the star that told His birth;
To the lands their God announcing,
Hid beneath a form of earth.

3 By its lambent beauty guided,
See, the eastern kings appear;
See them bend, their gifts to offer—
Gifts of incense, gold, and myrrh.

4 Offerings of mystic meaning!
Incense doth the God disclose;
Gold a royal child proclaimeth;
Myrrh a future tomb foreshows.

5 Holy Jesu! in Thy brightness
To the Gentile world displayed!
With the Father, and the Spirit,
Endless praise to Thee be paid.

Text Information

• First Line: Bethlehem, of noblest cities
• Title: Bethlehem, Of Noblest Cities
• Latin Title: O soal mangarum urbium
• Author: Aurelius Prudentius, 348-413
• Translator: Edward Caswall
• Meter: 87.87
• Language: English
• Source: Lyra Catholica, 1849
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: STUTTGART
• Meter: 87.87
• Key: G Major
• Source: Psalmodia Sacra, by Christian F. Witt (Gotha, Germany: 1715)
• Copyright: Public Domain