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O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (alternative words)
Introduction by the writer of this alternative version, Juanita Austin:
I love this ancient hymn with its haunting melody and sense of longing. The original words come from the 9th century and reflect the Babylonian captivity of the Israelite people, and their longing for a saving Messiah.
In our world today, 108.4 million people (as of 2022) are living as refugees and millions more are internally displaced. Our whole world is in need of God’s grace, peace and wisdom. We need to participate in God’s gifts as we actively live our faith, making welcome our own heart’s call. It can be sung to the tune “Veni Emmanuel” #1 Voices United.
1. O come, O come, Emmanuel
Refresh us at your life-giving well.
All people long to feel your grace,
Pour out your Spirit on every place.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel,
shall come to thee wherever you may dwell.
2. O come to us, our Everlasting Home,
Your people lost and broken, roam,
And seek a place of welcome and peace,
From war and violence, may they know release.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel,
shall come to thee wherever you may dwell.
3. O come Beloved, hear your peoples’ plea
The wounded soul, the homeless refugee.
May `Welcome’ be our own heart’s call,
‘Till there be room and justice for us all.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel,
shall come to thee wherever you may dwell.
Words by Juanita L. Austin – Nov. 29 2017
Used with permission
Tune: Veni Emmanuel (see Voices United hymnbook #1)
One License Member/Publisher #650298
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Ceasefire Holiday Remix Songs:
Holiday Songs for a Permanent Ceasefire
From the Kairos Center
December 2023 – People around the world are rising up to demand a permanent Ceasefire NOW! At the Kairos Center, we have been joining this call and coming together as Muslims and Jews, Christians, and non-believers, as leaders from movements for racial, economic, climate, gender justice and more to amplify our voices of resistance through action, prayer, song and more. This holiday season artists from across the nation have remixed classic holiday songs to support the calls for a permanent ceasefire.
Download a pdf
Ceasefire Christmas Carols - Selections
See and download the 10 songs here
One song in the collection:
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O broken town of Bethlehem,
Your people long for peace.
Curfew, raids, and barricades
Have brought them to their knees.
Still they long for justice
And still they make their stand.
Hopes and fears call through the years,
“Come heal this holy land.”
O hopeful town of Bethlehem,
Quite soon your day will come.
Tanks go back to Israel
And prison walls are gone.
Tell it on the mountain
And spread it o’re the plain.
Ancient land of Palestine,
A free land once again.
Download the pdf of 10 songs
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Songs from the advent service "BETHLEHEM UNTOLD: We Sing Stories of Hope"
Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Published by FOSNA as part of their Preach Palestine initiative:
https://www.fosna.org/preach-palestine-blog/bethlehem-untold-we-sing-stories-of-hope-heart-of-the-rockies-christian-church
The Days are Coming, Said the Lord”
Tune: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (Carolyn Winfrey Gillette)
"The days are coming," said the Lord to people beaten down, "The days are coming in this world when justice will abound.
My people, you will sing and dance, and hope will blossom forth, For I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up on the earth."
O God, you sent the prophets here to people long oppressed;
You told your children, filled with fear, that one day they'd be blessed. You said to cities lost, destroyed by violence, sin or war,
That they would soon receive the joy that they were longing for.
You promised justice in the land to those who were enslaved;
You said that one day, by your hand, your cities would be saved. As sure as dawn would turn to day and as the sun would set,
Your children there could trust your way; you were not finished yet.
The days are coming, loving Lord, to sing of Jesus' birth;
Yet cries for justice still are heard throughout this sinful earth. In Advent, may we work and wait, do justice, share and pray, And so prepare to celebrate your joyful, coming day.
A Weary Couple
Tune: Danny Boy •. Solo w/ choir
A weary couple lodged within a stable,
the only space where they could spend the night.
Were other travelers happy to be able
to keep her labor out of mind and sight?
But choirs of angels heard the mother’s weeping
and heaven rang with songs of peace on earth.
They went unheard by those in comfort sleeping,
for Jesus came among the outcasts at his birth.
An angel came to Joseph in his dreaming
and warned him so his family could flee.
As they escaped King Heron’s evil scheming,
the son of God became a refugee.
How many children die without such warning?
How many mothers will not be consoled?
Their voices choked with anger, tears, and mourning,
for songs unsung and stories never to be told?
But still the angels sing their hymns of “Glory” beyond our fears that never seem to cease.
For Christ has come, and God’s unfolding story
redeems the world to live in love, good will, and peace.
O Little Town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem,
So still in our minds’ eye
With candle lights and starlit nights,
And angels drawing nigh.
Yet in thy dark streets soundeth
The echoed wails of grief,
Of ancient fears, of bombs and tears,
Of agony and strife.
For Christ was born of Mary
And Joseph, born in love;
But soldiers came, in someone’s name,
With something left to prove.
So Mary brought up Jesus
In lands broken and cursed,
To preach and sing of no more kings,
Of peace to all the Earth.
How desperately, how desperately
That peace is needed now,
Which Love imparts to human hearts
To flower and to grow.
Our ears are numbed by anguish,
Cries from this world of sin.
Our weak souls yearn to feel the burn
Of Sacred Power within.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Reveal to us thy Way
Of justice, peace, and healing Grace; Be born in us today.
We are the Christmas angels;
Help us glad tidings tell.
O walk with us, shine forth through us: Each one, Emmanuel!
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See other music and song related to Palestineon this page
ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS SEASON COLLECTION
1. Prayer and Liturgy -go there
2. Sermons and Reflections -go there
3. Music and Song - on this page, see below
4. Devotions and Study Materials
- go there
5. Statements - go there
See an abundance of Prayers related to the Holy Land here
See other Worship and Devotional resources here
Education Worship & Devotional Resources
See the menu for this collection on the right ►