Bethlehem, of noblest cities
none can once with you compare;
you alone the Lord from heaven
Did for us incarnate bear.

Fairer than the sun at morning
was the star that told his birth;
To the lands their God announcing,
seen in fleshly form on earth.

By its lambent beauty guided
see the eastern kings appear;
see them bend, their gifts to offer,
gifts of incense, gold and myrrh.

Solemn things of mystic meaning:
Incense doth the God disclose,
gold a royal child proclaimeth,
myrrh a future tomb foreshows.

Holy Jesus, in your brightness
To the Gentile world display'd,
with the Father and the Spirit
endless praise to you be paid.