O Come All Ye Faithful

Hollyn sings this eighteenth-century Latin hymn's English translation in its familiar shortest form, opening with the same repeated invitation every version carries: "O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem."

"Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels" keeps the hymn's direction outward — not just describing the scene, but calling the listener to actually go look at it, the same movement the shepherds make in Luke's account after the angels finish singing.

"Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing" compresses John's Gospel opening into a single line, the theological anchor nearly every arrangement of this carol reaches for by its final verse. The repeated chorus, "O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord," does most of the song's remaining work — an instruction that doesn't need updating no matter how many artists take a turn singing it.