O come, O come, Immanuel

83 Veni Immanuel 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8.

1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
   And ransome captive Israel
   That mourns in lonely exile here
   Until the Son of God appear.
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
   Shall come to thee, O Israel.

2 O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
   And order all thing, far and nigh;
   To us the path of knowledge show,
   And cause us in her ways to go.
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
   Shall come to thee, O Israel.

3 O come, Desire of nations, bind
   All peoples in one hear and mind;
   Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
   Fill the whole world with heaven's peace.
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
   Shall come to thee, O Israel.
                         From the Latin, 12th century
                         Stanza 1 tr. by John M. Neal
                         Stanzas 2, 3 tr. by Henry S. Coffin
                        The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Wow. I didn't realize there were so many variations on this hymn! But I guess that makes sense; it is a thirteenth century Latin hymn that has been translated by various people over the years. The Methodist Hymnal I'm reading through (well, really singing through as I read them!) says that only their verse 1 is translated by the primary translator; the other two are by Henry S. Coffin (yes, the president of Union Theological Seminary Henry Sloane Coffin!).

Here's hymnary.org's authoritative text; note that it has a lot more verses:

1 O come, O come, Immanuel,
   and ransom captive Israel
   that mourns in lonely exile here
   until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
   shall come to you, O Israel.

2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,
   who ordered all things mightily;
   to us the path of knowledge show
   and teach us in its ways to go. Refrain

3 O come, O come, great Lord of might,
   who to your tribes on Sinai's height
   in ancient times did give the law
   in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

4 O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,
   unto your own and rescue them!
   From depths of hell your people save,
   and give them victory o'er the grave. Refrain

5 O come, O Key of David, come
   and open wide our heavenly home.
   Make safe for us the heavenward road
   and bar the way to death's abode. Refrain

6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
   and bring us comfort from afar!
   Dispel the shadows of the night
   and turn our darkness into light. Refrain

7 O come, O King of nations, bind
   in one the hearts of all mankind.
   Bid all our sad divisions cease
   and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain

I must say that I never expected blogging through these hymnals would turn into such an interesting adventure!
</idle musing>