Christmas carol · 1719
Joy to the World
The words, with the Bible verse behind each line
Joy to the World is Psalm 98 in verse. Isaac Watts wrote it about the Lord coming to rule the earth, with the sea, the rivers, and the hills joining in. It never mentions the manger, the shepherds, or Bethlehem. Its third verse reaches back to the curse on the ground in Genesis 3.
- 16 of 17 lines draw on a verse
- 14 passages
- 1 line goes beyond the Bible
The wordsBeyond the BibleIts story
The words, line by line
Luke 2:14 the verse a line draws on. Tap it to read the verse.Beyond where the line goes past the Bible.
Verse 1
- Joy to the world, the Lord is comePsalm 98:4Shout for joy to Yahweh, all the earth; burst into song, sing for joy, and sing praises.
- Let earth receive her KingPsalm 98:6With trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn, shout for joy before the King, Yahweh.
- Let every heart prepare him roomIsaiah 40:3A voice is calling out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of Yahweh; in the desert make a straight highway for our God.Beyond Watts’s own line. Psalm 98 does not say it.
- And heaven and nature singPsalm 96:11Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and all that fills it.
- And heaven and nature sing
- And heaven, and heaven and nature sing
Verse 2
- Joy to the earth, the Savior reignsPsalm 97:1Yahweh reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad.
- Let men their songs employPsalm 98:5Sing praises to Yahweh with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of singing.
- While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plainsPsalm 98:8Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains sing for joy together
- Repeat the sounding joyPsalm 98:8
Verse 3
- No more let sins and sorrows growGenesis 3:17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree that I commanded you about, saying, ‘Do not eat from it,’ the ground is cursed on your account; through painful labor you will eat from it all the days of your life.
- Nor thorns infest the groundGenesis 3:18It will bring up thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants that grow in the field.
- He comes to make his blessings flowRomans 5:20The law entered the picture so that the trespass would grow. But where sin grew, grace overflowed far beyond it,
- Far as the curse is foundRevelation 22:3There will no longer be anything accursed. God’s throne and the Lamb’s will be in the city, and his servants will serve him in worship.
Verse 4
- He rules the world with truth and gracePsalm 98:9before Yahweh, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with fairness.
- And makes the nations provePsalm 98:2Yahweh has made his salvation known; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
- The glories of his righteousnessPsalm 98:2
- And wonders of his lovePsalm 98:1Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done wonders; his right hand and his holy arm have won him victory.
Words: Isaac Watts, 1719, from Psalm 98. Music: “Antioch,” arranged by Lowell Mason, 1839. In the public domain. Verses are from the Lumin Translation.
Where it goes beyond the Bible
- It is not about the birth of Jesus. Watts wrote about the Lord coming to reign, which many read as his return. Churches started singing it at Christmas later.
- “Prepare him room” is Watts’s own line. Many hear Luke 2:7, where there was no space for them, but the psalm does not say it.
The story of the carol
Isaac Watts, an English pastor, published it in 1719 in “The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament.” He rewrote each psalm as if David had known Jesus. This one is the second half of Psalm 98.
For a century it was a psalm, not a Christmas song. In 1839 the American music teacher Lowell Mason put it to a tune he called “Antioch,” with phrases that sound like Handel’s Messiah. That tune made it a carol.
- Words
- Isaac Watts, 1719, from Psalm 98
- Music
- “Antioch,” arranged by Lowell Mason, 1839
Questions
Is Joy to the World in the Bible?
Joy to the World is Psalm 98 in verse. Isaac Watts wrote it about the Lord coming to rule the earth, with the sea, the rivers, and the hills joining in. It never mentions the manger, the shepherds, or Bethlehem. Its third verse reaches back to the curse on the ground in Genesis 3.
Who wrote Joy to the World?
Words: Isaac Watts, 1719, from Psalm 98. Music: “Antioch,” arranged by Lowell Mason, 1839.
What does Joy to the World add to the Bible?
It is not about the birth of Jesus. Watts wrote about the Lord coming to reign, which many read as his return. Churches started singing it at Christmas later. “Prepare him room” is Watts’s own line. Many hear Luke 2:7, where there was no space for them, but the psalm does not say it.