# Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: lyrics with the Bible verses behind them Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is one of the most Bible-filled carols. It quotes the angels in Luke 2:14, calls Jesus “Prince of Peace” from Isaiah 9:6 and “Sun of Righteousness” from Malachi 4:2, and ends on new birth from John 3. What it adds is the singing: Luke says the angels were “saying” their praise. Words: Charles Wesley, 1739. Opening changed by George Whitefield, 1753. Music: Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, fitted to the words by William H. Cummings, 1855. The words are in the public domain. Source: https://www.lumin.faith/christmas/carols/hark-the-herald-angels-sing. Scripture quotations are from the Lumin Translation. ## The words, line by line ### Verse 1 - Hark! The herald angels sing ([Luke 2:13](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#13): “All at once there was with the angel a vast crowd of heaven’s army, praising God and saying,”) Beyond the Bible: Luke says the angels were “saying.” He does not say they sang. - “Glory to the newborn King” ([Matthew 2:2](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/2#2): “and asked, Where is the newborn king of the Jews? For we saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”) - Peace on earth, and mercy mild ([Luke 2:14](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#14): “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people in whom he delights!”) - God and sinners reconciled ([2 Corinthians 5:19](https://www.lumin.faith/read/2-corinthians/5#19): “that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not charging their trespasses to their account, and he has placed with us the message of reconciliation.”) - Joyful, all ye nations, rise ([Luke 2:10](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#10): “The angel told them, Do not be afraid, for look, I am proclaiming to you good news of great joy that will belong to all the people:”) - Join the triumph of the skies ([Luke 2:13](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#13)) - With th’ angelic host proclaim ([Luke 2:13](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#13)) - “Christ is born in Bethlehem” ([Matthew 2:1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/2#1): “Once Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the time of King Herod, magi from the east made their way to Jerusalem”) ### Refrain - Hark! The herald angels sing - “Glory to the newborn King” ### Verse 2 - Christ, by highest heaven adored ([Hebrews 1:6](https://www.lumin.faith/read/hebrews/1#6): “And again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says, Let all God’s angels worship him.”) - Christ, the everlasting Lord ([Micah 5:2](https://www.lumin.faith/read/micah/5#2): “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will come out for me to be ruler in Israel, one whose origins go back to the distant past, to ancient days.”) - Late in time behold him come ([Galatians 4:4](https://www.lumin.faith/read/galatians/4#4): “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,”) - Offspring of a virgin’s womb ([Isaiah 7:14](https://www.lumin.faith/read/isaiah/7#14): “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Look, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and she will name him Immanuel.”) - Veiled in flesh the Godhead see ([John 1:14](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/1#14): “The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us. We looked on his glory, glory like that of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.”) - Hail th’ incarnate Deity ([Colossians 2:9](https://www.lumin.faith/read/colossians/2#9): “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,”) - Pleased as man with men to dwell ([John 1:14](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/1#14)) - Jesus, our Emmanuel ([Matthew 1:23](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/1#23): “Look, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.”) ### Verse 3 - Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace ([Isaiah 9:6](https://www.lumin.faith/read/isaiah/9#6): “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us, and authority will rest on his shoulder. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”) - Hail the Sun of Righteousness ([Malachi 4:2](https://www.lumin.faith/read/malachi/4#2): “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like calves from the stall.”) - Light and life to all he brings ([John 1:4](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/1#4): “Life was in him, and this life was the light of humankind.”) - Risen with healing in his wings ([Malachi 4:2](https://www.lumin.faith/read/malachi/4#2)) - Mild he lays his glory by ([Philippians 2:7](https://www.lumin.faith/read/philippians/2#7): “Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of human beings.”) - Born that man no more may die ([John 3:16](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/3#16): “For God loved the world in this way: he gave his Son, the one and only, so that whoever believes in him would not perish but would have eternal life.”) - Born to raise the sons of earth ([John 6:40](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/6#40): “For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”) - Born to give them second birth ([John 3:3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/3#3): “Jesus answered him, Truly, truly I tell you, unless someone is born from above, they cannot see the kingdom of God.”) ## Where it goes beyond the Bible - Luke says the angels were “praising God and saying.” He does not say they sang. - “Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace” takes Isaiah’s titles for the promised child and gives them to Jesus. Christians read Isaiah 9 this way, following the Gospels. Jewish readers read it differently. ## The story of the carol Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley and one of the first Methodists, wrote it in 1739. His first line was “Hark, how all the welkin rings,” an old word for the sky. In 1753 the preacher George Whitefield changed the opening to “Hark! The herald angels sing.” Wesley is said to have disliked the change. It stuck anyway. The tune is from a piece Felix Mendelssohn wrote in 1840 to honor the printer Johannes Gutenberg. Mendelssohn is reported to have said it would never suit sacred words. In 1855 the English organist William H. Cummings fitted Wesley’s words to it, and that pairing is the one sung today.