Once in Bethlehem of Judah (Charles Villiers Stanford)

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• CPDL #24291:     

Editor: Douglas Walczak (submitted 2011-08-28).   Score information: Letter, 2 pages, 73 kB   Copyright: Public Domain

General Information

Title: Once in Bethlehem of Judah
Composer: Charles Villiers Stanford
Lyricist: Cecil Frances Alexander

Number of voices: 2vv   Voicing: SATB

Genre: Sacred, Carol

Language: English
Instruments: Organ

First published:

Description:

External websites:

Original text and translations

English text

Once in Bethlehem of Judah,
Far away across the sea,
There was laid a little baby
On a virgin mother’s knee.

Refrain:
O Savior, gentle Savior,
Hear Thy loving children sing,
The God of our salvation,
The child that is a king.

It was not a stately palace
Where that little baby lay,
With His servants to attend Him,
And with guards to keep the way.
Refrain

But the oxen stood around Him,
In a stable low and dim;
In the world He had created
There was not a room for Him.
Refrain

For He left His Father’s glory,
And the golden halls above,
And He took our human nature,
In the greatness of His love.
Refrain

Of His infinite compassion,
He can feel our want and woe;
For He suffered, He was tempted,
When He lived our life below.
Refrain

Still He stands and pleads in Heaven,
For us, weak and sin-defiled;
God, who is a man for ever,
Jesus, who was once a child.
Refrain