Messiah
General Information
The Messiah (HWV 56, 1741) is an oratorio by Handel. It is organised in three acts.
Musical Setting
- Messiah, HWV 56 page for links to Messiah sheet music
Original Text
English text
Comfort Ye
Comfort ye!
comfort ye my people!
saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her
that her warfare is
accomplish'd,
that her
iniquity is pardon'd.
The voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the
Lord,
make straight in the
desert a highway for our God.
Every Valley shall be exalted
Ev'ry valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill made low,
the crooked straight,
and the rough places plain.
And the Glory of the Lord
And the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed.
And all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord
Thus saith the Lord of Hosts;
Yet once a little while
and I will shake the heav'ns and the earth,
the sea and the dry land.
And I will shake all nations,
and the desire of all nations shall come.
The Lord whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come to His temple,
ev'n the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in,
Behold, He shall come,
saith the Lord of Hosts.
But who may abide
But who may abide
the day of His coming?
and who shall stand
when He appeareth?
For He is like a refiner's fire.
And He shall purify
And He shall purify
the sons of Levi,
that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness.
Behold A Virgin Shall Conceive
Behold,
a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son,
and shall call his name Emmanuel,
God with us.
O thou that tellest
O! thou that tellest
good tidings to Zion,
get thee up
into the high mountain;
O! thou that tellest
good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid;
say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God!
Arise, shine,
for thy light is come,
and the glory of the Lord
is risen upon thee.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth
For, behold!
darkness shall cover
the earth,
and gross darkness
the people;
but the Lord shall
arise upon thee,
and His glory shall
be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall
come to thy light,
and kings to the brightness
of thy rising.
The people that walked in darkness
The people that walked
in darkness have seen
a great light,
and they that dwell
in the land of the shadow
of death,
upon them hath the light
shined.
For unto Us a Child is born
For unto us a Child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government shall
be upon His shoulder:
and His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor,
the mighty God,
the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace.
There were shepherds
There were shepherds abiding
in the field,
keeping watch over their
flock by night.
And lo! the angel of the Lord
came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them,
and they were sore afraid.
And the Angel said unto them
And the angel said unto them,
Fear not, for behold,
I bring you good tidings of
great joy,
which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day
in the city of David, a Saviour,
which is Christ, the Lord.
And suddenly there was with the Angel
And suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising
God, and saying:
Glory to God
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth,
good will towards men.
Rejoice greatly
Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Sion,
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem,
behold,
thy King cometh unto thee.
He is the righteous Saviour.
And he shall speak peace
unto the heathen.
Then shall the eyes of the blind
Then shall the eyes of the blind
be open'd,
and the ears of the deaf
unstopped.
Then shall the lame man
leap as a hart,
and the tongue of the dumb
shall sing.
He shall feed
He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd;
and he shall gather the lambs
with His arm,
and carry them in His bossom,
and gently lead those
that are with young.
Come unto Him,
all ye that labour
come unto him that are heavy laden,
and He will give you rest.
Take his yoke upon you,
and learn of him;
for he is meek and lowly of heart,
and ye shall find rest unto
your souls.
His yoke is easy
His yoke is easy,
his burden is light.
Behold the lamb of God
Behold the Lamb of God,
that taketh away the sin
of the world.
He was despised
He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief.
He gave his back to the
smiters,
and His cheeks to
them that plucked off the hair,
He hid not His face from
shame and spitting.
Surely He hath borne our griefs
Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows!
He was wounded for our
transgressions,
he was bruised for our
iniquities;
the chastisement
of our peace was upon him.
And with his stripes we are
healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray
All we, like sheep,
have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
All they that see him laugh him to scorn
All they that see him,
laugh him to scorn:
they shoot out their lips,
they shake their heads,
saying.
He trusted in God
He trusted in God
that he would deliver him:
let him deliver him,
if he delight in him.
Thy rebuke hath broken His heart
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart;
He is full of heaviness.
He looked for some to have
pity on Him,
but there was no man;
neither found He any to comfort Him.
Behold, and see
Behold,
and see if there be any
sorrow like unto his
sorrow!
He was cut off out of the land of the living
he was cut off out of the
the living:
for the transgression of
Thy people was He stricken.
But Thou didst not leave
But thou didst not leave
his soul in hell;
nor didst thou suffer
Thy Holy One to see corruption.
Lift up your heads
Lift up your heads,
O ye gates;
and be ye lift up,
ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall
come in!
Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
and be ye lift up,
ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall
come in.
Who is the King
of Glory? The Lord of Hosts,
He is the King of Glory.
Unto which of the angels
For unto which of the angels
said He at any time,
Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee?
Let all the angels
Let all the angels of God
worship Him
Thou art gone up on high
Thou art gone up on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive,
and received gifts for men;
yea, even for Thine enemies,
that the Lord God might dwell
among them.
The Lord gave the word
The Lord gave the word:
great was the company of
the preachers.
How beautiful are the feet
How beautiful are the feet
of them that preach the gospel
of peace,
and bring glad
tidings of good things!
Their sound is gone out
their sound is gone out
into all lands,
and their
words unto the ends of the
world.
Why do the nations rage?
Why do the nations so furiously rage together?
why do the people
imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth rise up,
and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord,
and against His anointed.
Let us break their bonds
Let us break their bonds
asunder,
and cast away their
yokes from us.
He that dwelleth
He that dwelleth in
heaven
shall laugh them to
scorn;
the Lord shall have
them in derision.
Thou shalt break them
Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter's
vessel.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah!
for the Lord God
omnipotent reigneth.
the kingdom of this world
is become the kingdom
of our Lord,
and of His Christ:
and He shall reign for ever
and ever.
King of kings and lord of lords.
I know that my redeemer liveth
I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth
And though worms destroy this
body,
yet in my flesh shall
I see God.
For now is Christ risen
from the dead.
the first fruits of them that
sleep.
Since by man
Since by man came death,
by man came also the
resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die
even so in Christ shall
all be made alive.
Behold I tell you
Behold, I tell you a mystery!
We shall not all sleep;
but we shall all be changed,
In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
The trumpet shall sound
the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must
put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on
immortality.
Then shall be brought to pass
then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in
victory.
O death
O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin;
and the strength of sin is
the law.
But thanks be to God
But thanks be to God,
who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If God be for us
If God be for us,
who can be against us?
Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died,
yea rather, that is risen again,
who is at the right hand of
God,
who makes intercession
for us.
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain
and hath redeemed us
to God by his blood,
to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom,
and strength, and honour,
and glory, and blessing.
Blessing, and honour,
glory and power,
be unto Him that sitteth
upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever
and ever.
Amen
Amen.