1
O lit-tle town of Beth-le-hem,
How still we see they 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.
2
For Christ is born of Ma-ry;
And gath-ered all a-bove,
While mor-tals sleep, the an-gels keep
Their watch of won-d'ring 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.
3
How si-lent-ly, how si-lent-ly
The wondrous Gift is giv'n!
So God im-parts to hu-man hearts
The bless-ings of His heav'n.
No ear may hear His com-ing,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will re-ceive Him still,
The dear Christ en-ters in.
4
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
—
Lyrics: 1868, Brooks
;:O Little Town of Bethlehem