SHILOH FOR CHRISTMAS
     Words by William Billings.
     Music by William Billings in The Suffolk Harmony, 1786.

 First Shepherd:
    Methinks I see an heav'nly Host 
      of Angels on the Wing; 
    Methinks I hear their chearful Notes, 
      so merrily they sing. 

 First Angel:
    Let all your fears be banish'd hence, 
      Glad tidings I proclaim; 
    For there's a Saviour born today 
      And Jesus is his Name. 

    Lay down your Crooks, and quit your flocks, 
      To Bethlehem repair; 
    And let your wandering steps be squar'd 
      By yonder shining Star. 

    Seek not in Courts or Palaces; 
      Nor Royal curtains draw; 
    But search the Stable, see your God 
      Extended on the straw. 

    Then learn from hence, ye rural swains, 
      The meekness of your God, 
    Who left the boundless Realms of joy, 
      To ransom you with blood. 

 Narrative:
    The master of the Inn refus'd 
      A more commodious place; 
    Ungen'rous soul of savage mould 
      And destitute of Grace. 

 First Angel:
    Exult ye Oxen, low for Joy, 
      Ye tenants of the Stall; 
    Pay your obeisance; on your knees 
      Unanimously fall. 

    The Royal Guest you entertain 
      Is not of common Birth, 
    But second in the Great I AM, 
      The God of Heaven and Earth. 

 Narrative:
    Then suddenly a Heav'nly Host 
      Around the Shepherds throng, 
    Exulting in the threefold God, 
      And thus address their song: 

 Grand Chorus:
    To God the Father, Christ the Son, 
      And Holy Ghost ador'd 
    The first and last, the last and first,
      Eternal Praise afford.