Song of the Week: Steven Curtis Chapman's "O Come O Come Emmanuel"

Throughout the month of December, the "Song of the Week" feature of this weblog will take you around the candles of the Advent Wreath. The first candle we light is to remember the hope of Christ's arrival, especially the expectations stirred up by the prophecies.

The song, "O Come O Come Emmanuel," reflects that hope. It dates back to the 12th century by an unknown author, and it was translated from Latin into English by John Neale in 1851. The ti­tle, of course, comes from Isai­ah 7:14: “Be­hold, a vir­gin shall con­ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Im­man­u­el.” “Day-Spring” comes from the song of Za­cha­ri­as, fa­ther of John the Bap­tist, who sang in Luke 1:78: “The day­spring from on high has vis­it­ed us.”

The shorter rendition below is from Steven Curtis Chapman's project, The Music of Christmas. Here's "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"--

O come, O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

O come Thou dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight

Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

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Do you have some favorite Christmas music? Join the conversation I started last year at Operation Christmas Shoes! The player for the featured "Song of the Week" can be found on the upper right corner of the weblog for one week.