静岡英和女学院 中学校・高等学校

Do you have any favorite Christmas songs? I love traditional Christmas hymns, so at the English Day morning service yesterday, I read the Christmas story from Luke 2: 7-11, and introduced two hymns that are connected to it.

In this part of Luke, we learn about the shepherds who were told about Jesus’s birth by the angels. This is the topic of “The First Noel,” whose first verse is:

The first Noel, the angel did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel

By the way, “Noel” means Christmas, so this is the story of the first Christmas.

The second hymn was “Joy to the World,” which tells of the happiness of Jesus’ birth. It was written over 300 years ago, in 1719, so the English is a little bit difficult to understand. Here is the first verse:

Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing

We wish you all the best over the Christmas season. If you have the chance, please try to sing a song or two in English during the winter vacation!