O Come All Ye Faithful

Lauren Daigle's reading keeps the eighteenth-century Latin hymn's English translation essentially untouched, opening with an imperative rather than a description: "O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem." The carol tells the listener what to do before it tells them why.

The second verse widens the invitation beyond the human congregation entirely: "sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation, sing all ye citizens of heav'n above." Earth and heaven get the identical instruction in the same breath.

The third verse states plainly what the whole carol has been building toward: "Word of the Father now in flesh appearing" — John's Gospel condensed into a single line. That same Gospel's report of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among humanity, and the angels' own announcement of glory to God in the highest, both sit behind a carol whose repeated command — "O come let us adore Him" — hasn't needed updating in nearly three centuries of being sung.