O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Anonymous; Translator: J. M. Neale (1851)

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.

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.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny.
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.

O Come, thou Day-spring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And deaths dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.

O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.

This ancient advent hymn originated in part from the “Great ‘O’ Antiphons,” part of the medieval Roman Catholic Advent liturgy. On each day of the week leading up to Christmas, one responsive verse would be chanted, each including a different Old Testament name for the coming Messiah. When we sing each verse of this hymn, we acknowledge Christ as the fulfillment of these Old Testament prophecies. We sing this hymn in an already-but not yet-kingdom of God. Christ's first coming gives us a reason to rejoice again and again, yet we know that all is not well with the world. So along with our rejoicing, we plead using the words of this hymn that Christ would come again to perfectly fulfill the promise that all darkness will be turned to light. The original text created a reverse acrostic: “ero cras,” which means, “I shall be with you tomorrow.” That is the promise we hold to as we sing this beautiful hymn.

Happy Advent
Blessings,
Dorene

Source:hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom