1 Now dies in David’s city
The world’s discordant din,
And slumber lulls the tumult
In Bethl’em’s crowded inn.

Refrain:
What means that music ringing
From Heav’n at early morn?
Heard ye an angel singing,
The Christ, the Lord, is born?
Heard ye an angel singing,
The Christ, the Lord, is born?

2 The world was dull of hearing
To music from on high:
But shepherds heard the angels
Beneath the bending sky. [Refrain]

3 For Joseph and for Mary
There was no room at all:
The busy world could find them
No shelter but a stall. [Refrain]

4 But for God’s holy pilgrim
There needs no lordly bed:
For lo! an endless glory
Beams from that lowly shed. [Refrain]