Hymns from scripture
Hymns based on Luke 2
Luke 2 has given hymn writers words for 10 hymns in this library, by writers including Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley; George Whitefield and Edmund H. Sears. Each is listed below with the lines that echo the chapter and the verses they draw on, quoted from the World English Bible, a public-domain modern translation.
The verse these hymns return to most is Luke 2:14: ““Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.””
Hymn writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries knew their Bibles almost by heart, and they wove its phrases into their lines — sometimes as a close paraphrase, as in the metrical psalms, and sometimes as a single image carried into a new setting. Reading the verse beside the line shows what the writer had in mind, and often why a hymn was chosen to be sung alongside a particular reading.
- Joy to the World — Joy to the world! the Lord is come:Luke 2:10
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Hark! the herald angels sing,Luke 2:13–14
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear — It came upon the midnight clear,Luke 2:8–14
- O Come, All Ye Faithful — O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,Luke 2:15–16
- Silent Night, Holy Night — Silent night! Holy night!Luke 2:8–9
- Hark, Hark, My Soul! — Hark! hark, my soul, angelic songs are swellingLuke 2:13–14
- Away in a Manger — Away in a manger, no crib for His bed,Luke 2:7
- All My Heart This Night Rejoices — All my heart this day rejoices,Luke 2:8–15
- What Child Is This — What Child is this, who, laid to rest,Luke 2:7
- Jesus Came, the Heavens Adoring — Jesus came, the heavens adoring,Luke 2:14