“Angels We Have Heard on High” was written by James Chadwick, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, in 1862. It was inspired by (and at parts, a loose translation of) the French song Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes.

1 Angels we have heard on high,
sweetly singing o’er the plains,
and the mountains in reply
echoing their joyous strains:

Refrain:
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

2 Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
which inspire your heav’nly song? [Refrain]

3 Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the new-born King. [Refrain]

4 See within a manger laid
Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth!
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
sing with us our Savior’s birth. [Refrain]