Jacob's Ladder

Words: English Folk, 18th or early 19th century

Music: English Folk, 18th century

Source: Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer, Christmas Carols New and Old, Second Series (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., 1871), Carol #35

1. As Jacob with travel was weary one day,
At night on a stone for a pillow he lay,
He saw in a vision a ladder so high,
That its foot was on earth, and its top in the sky.

Chorus
Hallelujah to Jesus, who died on the Tree
And hath rais’d up a ladder of mercy for me,
And hath rais’d up a ladder of mercy for me.

2. This ladder is long, it is strong and well-made,
Has stood hundreds of years and is not yet decayed;
Many millions have climbed it and reached Sion's hill,
And thousands by faith are climbing it still· Chorus

3. Come let us ascend: alt may climb it who will;
For the Angels of Jacob are guarding it still:
And remember each step, that by faith we pass o'er,
Some Prophet or Martyr hath trod it before, Chorus

4. And when we arrive at the haven of rest
We shall hear the glad words, "Come up hither., ye blest,
Here are regions of light, here are mansions of bliss:"
O, who would not climb such a ladder as this? Chorus

Sheet Music from Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer, Christmas Carols New and Old (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., ca 1871)

Sheet Music from Martin Shaw and Percy Dearmer, The English Carol Book, First Series (London: A. R. Mowbray & Co., Ltd., 1913), Carol #20
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF

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