Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Charles Wesley's Christmas hymn: the angels' song and what Christ's birth means for us.
The words are public domain. We print a hymn only after checking it word for word against a dated old printing, and this one hasn’t been checked yet. Hymnary has it now.
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” at HymnaryAbout this hymn
The hymn repeats the angels' song of glory and then explains it: Christ is God made flesh, the Prince of Peace, born so that people may be born again and raised from death.
It rests on Luke 2:8-14, where angels announce Jesus' birth to shepherds, and on John 1:14 and Isaiah 9:6.
It is sung at Christmas. Charles Wesley wrote it in 1739 beginning 'Hark, how all the welkin rings'. George Whitefield changed the opening to the words now sung in 1753.
For musicians and planners
| Words | Charles Wesley; altered by George Whitefield, 1739 | Public domain |
|---|---|---|
| Tune | MENDELSSOHN · Felix Mendelssohn; adapted by William H. Cummings, 1840 | Public domain |
Checked 2026-09-27 against hymnary.org text, tune and person pages (attribution and rights only). The words are not transcribed here yet.
Hymn numbers checked against Hymnary.org’s index of Evangelical Lutheran Worship. Full record: Hymnary.