1 Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle-shed,
where a mother laid her baby,
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.
2 He came down to earth from heaven,
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, and meek, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior Holy.
3 For he is our childhood's pattern;
day by day like us he grew;
he was little, weak, and helpless;
tears and smiles like us he knew;
and he feels for all our sadness,
and he shares in all our gladness.
4 And our eyes at last shall see Him,
through his own redeeming love,
for that child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heaven above;
and He leads His children on
to the place where he has gone.
5 Not in that poor lowly stable
with the oxen standing by
we shall see him, but in heaven,
set at God's right hand on high:
there his children gather round
bright like stars, with glory crowned.
