BETHLEHEM OF NOBLEST CITIES

Bethlehem! Of noblest cities\nNone can once with thee compare;\nThou alone the Lord from heaven\nDidst for us incarnate bear.\n2. Fairer than the sun at morning\nWas the star that told his birth;\nTo the lands their God announcing,\nHid beneath a form of earth.\n3. By its lambent beauty guided,\nSee, the eastern kings, appear;\nSee them bend, their gifts to offer,\nGifts of incense, gold, and myrrh.\n4. Solemn things of mystic meaning!\nIncense doth the god disclose;\nGold a royal Child proclaimedth;\nMyrrh a future tomb foreshows.\n5. Holy Jesu, in thy brightness\nTo the Gentile world display’d,\nWith the Father and the Spirit,\nEndless praise to thee be paid.