O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (stanza 3)

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." So reads in part Isaiah 7:14 in the English Standard Version of the Bible. Here is stanza 3 of the ninth-century Latin hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," a Christian hymn for Advent and Christmas, translated by John Mason Neale (1818-1866). Tomorrow I will post stanza 4 of this Latin hymn.

O come, o come, thou Lord of Might,

Who to thy tribes on Sinai's height

In ancient times did give thy Law,

In cloud and majesty and awe.

          Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

          Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Trusting God Gives Strength

"Union gives strength," said Aesop. As the quotation below, Isaiah 40:28-31, from the Second Edition (1992) of the Good News Translation of the Bible says, so does trusting God.

Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts. He strengthens those who are weak and tired. Even those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted. But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.

 

"Hush, All Ye Sounds of War" by William H. Draper : Christ in Poetry

In the King James Version of the Bible Isaiah 9:6 reads: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Here is a poem about the nativity of Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace.


HUSH, ALL YE SOUNDS OF WAR
by William H. Draper

Hush, all ye sounds of war,
Ye nations all be still,
A voice of heav'nly joy steals over vale and hill,
O hear the angels sing the captive world's release,
This day is born in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace.

No more divided be,
Ye families of men,
Old enmity forget, old friendship knit again,
In the new year of God let brothers' love increase,
This day is born in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace.


Source: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Messianic Hope

The words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and of Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 40:4-5 from the King James Bible) make up this found poem for Advent:

I have a dream that one day
Every valley shall be exalted,
And every mountain and hill shall be made low:
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough places plain:
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together.


Note: I found this poem in and adapted it from the Rev. Dr. King's address at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.