Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising

Words: Kommt und lasst uns Christum ehren by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676), 1667
Gerhardt's Translation of Quem Pastores Laudavere, Authorship Unknown, 14th century, Hoenfurth Manuscript
Translation To English by Composite
Based on Luke 2: 15

Music: "Quem Pastores Laudavere," German Melody, Breslau, 1555
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / XML
Meter: 88 87

1. Come, your hearts and voices raising,
Christ the Lord with gladness praising;
Loudly sing His love amazing,
Worthy folk of Christendom.

2. Sin and death may well be groaning,
Satan now may well be moaning;
We, our full salvation owning,
Cast our every care away.

3. See how God, for us providing,
Gave His Son and life abiding;
He our weary steps is guiding
From earth's woe to heavenly joy.

4. Christ, from heaven to us descending
And in love our race befriending,
In our need His help extending,
Saved us from the wily Foe.

5. Jacob's Star in all its splendor
Beams with comfort sweet and tender,
Forcing Satan to surrender,
Breaking all the powers of hell.

6. From the bondage that oppressed us,
From sin's fetters that possessed us,
From the grief that sore distressed us,
We, the captives, now are free.

7. Oh, the joy beyond expressing
When by faith we grasp this blessing
And to Thee we come confessing,
That our freedom thou hast wrought!

8. Gracious Child, we pray Thee, hear us,
From Thy lowly manger cheer us,
Gently lead us and be near us
Till we join the angelic choir.

Notes:

From The Lutheran Hymnal (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941). This text was converted to ASCII format for Project Wittenberg by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain. For more information about Project Wittenberg, contact Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary, 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA

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