# O Holy Night: lyrics with the Bible verses behind them O Holy Night draws on Luke 2 for the Savior’s birth and the angels, on Matthew 2 for the wise men and the star, and on Philemon 16 for “the slave is our brother.” Its third verse turns the birth into a call to love one another and end oppression. Luke mentions no stars on the night of the birth. Words: Placide Cappeau, 1847 (French). English by John Sullivan Dwight, 1855. Music: Adolphe Adam, 1847. The words are in the public domain. Source: https://www.lumin.faith/christmas/carols/o-holy-night. Scripture quotations are from the Lumin Translation. ## The words, line by line ### Verse 1 - O holy night, the stars are brightly shining Beyond the Bible: Luke mentions no stars that night. - It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth ([Luke 2:11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#11): “this very day in David’s city a Savior has been born for you. He is the Messiah, the Lord.”) - Long lay the world in sin and error pining ([Romans 3:23](https://www.lumin.faith/read/romans/3#23): “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”) - Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth ([Titus 2:11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/titus/2#11): “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.”) - A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices ([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:”) - For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn ([Luke 1:78](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1#78): “because of the heartfelt mercy of our God, by which the rising light from on high will visit us”) - Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices ([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 does not say the shepherds knelt. - O night divine, O night when Christ was born ([Luke 2:11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#11)) - O night, O holy night, O night divine ### Verse 2 - Led by the light of faith serenely beaming - With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand ([Luke 2:16](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#16): “They went quickly and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and to the baby lying in the manger.”) - So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming ([Matthew 2:9](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/2#9): “When they had heard the king out, they set off, and there was the star they had seen as it rose, leading them on until it came and halted over the place where the child was.”) - Here come the wise men from Orient land ([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”) - The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger ([Revelation 19:16](https://www.lumin.faith/read/revelation/19#16): “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.”) - In all our trials born to be our friend ([John 15:15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/15#15): “I do not call you servants anymore, since a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have let you know everything I heard from my Father.”) - He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger ([Hebrews 4:15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/hebrews/4#15): “For our high priest is not someone who cannot feel for us in our weaknesses; he has been tested in every way in the same manner we are, yet without sin.”) - Behold your King, before him lowly bend ([Zechariah 9:9](https://www.lumin.faith/read/zechariah/9#9): “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Cry out for joy, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and has been given victory; he is humble, and he rides on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a female donkey.”) - Behold your King, before him lowly bend ### Verse 3 - Truly he taught us to love one another ([John 13:34](https://www.lumin.faith/read/john/13#34): “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”) - His law is love and his gospel is peace ([Romans 13:10](https://www.lumin.faith/read/romans/13#10): “Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”) - Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother ([Philemon 1:16](https://www.lumin.faith/read/philemon/1#16): “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a dear brother. He is especially dear to me, but how much more to you, both as a man and in the Lord.”) - And in his name all oppression shall cease ([Luke 4:18](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/4#18): “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free,”) - Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we ([Colossians 3:16](https://www.lumin.faith/read/colossians/3#16): “Let the word of Christ live among you abundantly, as with all wisdom you teach and instruct one another and sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God, thankful in your hearts.”) - Let all within us praise his holy name ([Psalm 103:1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/psalm/103#1): “Bless Yahweh, my soul, and everything inside me, bless his holy name.”) - Christ is the Lord, O praise his name forever ([Philippians 2:11](https://www.lumin.faith/read/philippians/2#11): “and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”) - His power and glory evermore proclaim ([Revelation 5:13](https://www.lumin.faith/read/revelation/5#13): “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and everything in them, saying, To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”) - His power and glory evermore proclaim ## Where it goes beyond the Bible - Luke mentions no stars on the night of the birth. The star is Matthew’s, and the magi come later to a house. - “Fall on your knees” is the carol’s call. Luke does not say the shepherds knelt. ## The story of the carol Placide Cappeau was a wine merchant and poet in Roquemaure, in the south of France. The parish priest asked him for a Christmas poem, and he wrote “Minuit, chrétiens” (“Midnight, Christians”). Adolphe Adam, who wrote the ballet Giselle, set it to music in 1847. John Sullivan Dwight, an American music critic who was against slavery, made the English version in 1855. His third verse, “Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother,” made it a favorite in the North before the Civil War. A story says it was the first music ever played on radio, on Christmas Eve 1906. Historians doubt that broadcast happened as told.