Words: , 1645 (Freuet euch, ihr Christ­en al­le). The words were writ­ten for Kei­mann’s stu­dents to per­form at Christ­mas, and were pub­lished as Der neu­ge­borne Je­sus (Gör­litz: 1646); trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by , Chor­ale Book for Eng­land (Lon­don: Long­man, Green, Long­man, Ro­berts and Green, 1863), num­ber 33.

Music: Freu­et Euch, Ihr Christ­en, Mi­chael Ham­mer­schmidt, Mu­sik­al­ische An­dacht­en (Frei­berg, Sax­o­ny: 1646).


Oh, rejoice, ye Christians, loudly,
For your joy hath now begun;
Wondrous things our God hath done.
Tell abroad His goodness proudly,
Who our race hath honored thus
That He deigns to dwell with us.

Refrain

Joy, O joy, beyond all gladness,
Christ hath done away with sadness!
Hence, all sorrow and repining,
For the Son of Grace is shining!

See, my soul, thy Savior chooses
Weakness here and poverty,
In such love He comes to thee
Nor the hardest couch refuses;
All He suffers for thy good,
To redeem thee by His blood.

Refrain

Lord, how shall I thank Thee rightly?
I acknowledge that from Thee
Every blessing flows to me..
Let me not forget it lightly
But to Thee through all things cleave
So shall heart and mind receive:

Refrain

Jesus, guard and guide Thy members,
Fill Thy brethren with Thy grace,
Hear their prayers in every place.
Quicken now life’s faintest embers,
Grant all Christians, far and near,
Holy peace, a glad new Year!

Refrain