Joy To The World

For Christmas

Version 3

Joy To The World - Version 1
Joy To The World - Version 2
Joy To The World - Version 4

Words: Isaac Watts, Psalms of David, Psalm 98, 1719.

Music: "Antioch," Lowell Mason, 1848.
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML

Source: Joshua Sylvestre, Christmas Carols - Ancient and Modern (circa 1861, reprinted A. Wessels Company, New York, 1901)

1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come,
Let earth receive her King;
Let every tongue with sacred mirth
His loud applauses sing.

2. Hark, hark, what news, what joyful news,
To all the nations round;
To-day rejoice, a King is born,
Who is with glory crown'd.

3. Behold! He comes, the tidings spead,
A Saviour full of grace:
He comes, in mercy, to restore
A sinful, fallen race.

Sylvestre's Note:

Among all the jubilant carols this is certainly the greatest favorite with the good people of Devon and Cornwall. The tune to which it is usually sung is very fine. The carol may date back to the beginning of the last century, but it is probably more recent.

Note that Hugh Keyte, an editor of The New Oxford Book of Carols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992) believes that "Joshua Sylvestre" is a pseudonym for a collaboration between William Sandys (1792-1874) and William Henry Husk (1814-1887). See Appendix 4.