1 Behold! behold! what wonders here!
The gloomy night turns bright and clear,
A brilliant light dispels the shade,
The stars before it pale and fade.
2 A wondrous light it is, I trow,
And not the ancient sun shines now;
For, contrary to nature, night
Is turned by it to day so bright.
3 What means He to announce to us,
Who nature’s course can alter thus?
A mighty work designed must be,
When such a mighty sign we see.
4 To us vouchsafed can it be
The Sun of Righteousness to see,
The Star from Jacob’s stem so bright,
The Woman’s Seed, the Gentiles’ Light?
5 ’Tis even so--for from the sky
Heaven’s hosts with joyful tidings hie,
That He is born in Bethlehem’s stall,
Who Savior is and Lord of all!
6 Oh blessedness! the goodly throng
Of sainted fathers waited long
To see this day, with hope deferred,
As we may learn from God’s own Word.
Source: Evangelical Lutheran hymnal: with music #25a
Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which condemned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was r… Go to person page >
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