Keepapitchinin, the Mormon History blog » O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: December 1
 


O Come, O Come, Emmanuel: December 1

By: Ardis E. Parshall - December 01, 2008

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

12th century text; 1851 translation by John Mason Neale

The Improvement Era, December 1959

“The Nativity,” by Friberg



4 Comments »

  1. This is truly one of my favorites. I especially liked Anne Mortifee’s rendition.

    Comment by Eric Boysen — December 1, 2008 @ 6:25 am

  2. Our ward choir will be singing the David Zabriskie (LDS Music Source) arrangement of this as part of our ward Christmas program. The song will be preceded with the following scriptural reading:

    Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people. . . . And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God. And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day. (1 Nephi 1:5, 8-9)

    ..bruce..

    Comment by bfwebster — December 1, 2008 @ 10:17 am

  3. What a way to say “Happy December”! Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much. Today was totally stressful . . . I can’t figure out a good argument for my thesis (the proposal is due in two weeks), I’ve got a lot besides to get done, I’m a bit sick, etc. You made my day. Thank you.

    Comment by Michelle Glauser — December 1, 2008 @ 1:36 pm

  4. Ardis,

    Good choice. The haunting refrain replays in my mind, even as I read.

    Comment by Jim Cobabe — December 1, 2008 @ 1:58 pm

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