88. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

1 O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

2 O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily:
to us the path of knowledge show;
and teach us in her ways to go. [Refrain]

3 O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times didst give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe. [Refrain]

4 O come, thou Root of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save
and give them victory o’er the grave. [Refrain]

5 O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery. [Refrain]

6 O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight. [Refrain]

7 O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
bid envy, strife, and discord cease;
fill the whole world with heaven’s peace. [Refrain]

Text Information
First Line: O come, O come, Emmanuel
Title: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Refrain First Line: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Meter: LM with refrain
Language: English
Publication Date: 2013
Scripture: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Topic: Comfort; God's Covenant with Israel; Jesus Christ: Advent (3 more...)
Source: Latin prose, pre-9th cent.; Trans. composite
Notes: One stanza of this paraphrase of the great O Antiphons may be sung on each of the last days of Advent as follows: Dec. 17: O Wisdom (2); Dec. 18: O Lord of might (3); Dec. 19: O Root of Jesse (4); Dec. 20: O Key of David (5); Dec. 21: O Dayspring (6); Dec. 22: O Desire of Nations (7); Dec. 23: O Emmanuel (1)
Tune Information
Name: VENI EMMANUEL
Adapter: Thomas Helmore (1852)
Arranger: John Weaver (1988)
Meter: LM with refrain
Key: e minor
Source: Plainsong
Copyright: Arr. © 1990 John Weaver


Text Information:

These titles of the coming Christ appeared in daily Vesper antiphons sung during the week before Christmas; their roots date at least to the reign of Charlemagne. Both text and tune are the fruit of 19th-century efforts to reclaim Christian treasures from pre-Reformation sources.


Media
Audio recording: Audio (MP3)
More media are available on the text authority and tune authority pages.

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