Common Praise (1998) ‎#158

158. Earth Has Many a Noble City

1 Earth has many a noble city;
Bethlehem, thou dost all excel:
out of thee the Lord from heaven
came to rule his Israel.

2 Fairer than the sun at morning
was the star that told his birth,
to the world its God announcing
seen in fleshly form on earth.

3 Eastern sages at his cradle
make oblations rich and rare;
see them give, in deep devotion,
gold and frankincense and myrrh.

4 Sacred gifts of mystic meaning:
incense doth their God disclose,
gold the King of kings proclaimeth,
myrrh his sepulcher foreshows.

5 Jesus, whom the Gentiles worshipped
at thy glad epiphany,
unto thee, with God the Father
and the Spirit, glory be.

Text Information

• First Line: Earth has many a noble city
• Title: Earth Has Many a Noble City
• Author: Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (348-413?)
• Translator: Edward Caswall (1814-1878)
• Meter: 87 87
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1998
• Scripture:
  Micah 5:2-5
• Topic: Epiphany (season); Christmas

Tune Information

• Name: STUTTGART
• Adapter: Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876)
• Meter: 87 87
• Key: G Major
• Source: Psalmodia Sacra, Gotha, 1715