In Advent 2018 I was inspired to write a new version of 'O come, O come, Emmanuel', a little more faithful to the original antiphons, and freshening up some of the slightly archaic imagery of the more familiar versions. I've posted the antiphons below for comparison.
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
Whose birth the ancient prophets tell.
The hope of every troubled land,
Restore us by your mighty hand.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel,
Our God with us shall come and dwell.
O come, true Wisdom, living word,
Who spoke and new creation stirred.
Reorder this world’s faulty ways,
Teach us the sweetness of your praise.
O come, Adonai, Lord of might,
Who showed the way on Israel’s flight.
Fulfil the ancient law you gave,
With outstretched arm, your people save.
O come, strong Root of Jesse’s tree,
Return to set all peoples free.
Before you kings shall silent fall,
To you the nations’ prayers shall call.
O come, great sceptre, David’s Key,
Restore to us our liberty.
For none can shut the heav’nly door,
But all may enter and adore.
O come, bright Dayspring, Morning Star,
Arise and spread your light afar.
Your people wait in dark of night,
Reveal the splendour of your light.
O come, the King of all the earth,
Desire of those you brought to birth.
Rebuild us, cornerstone of peace,
That love should reign, and wars may cease.
Antiphons
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
come and save us, O Lord our God.
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
come and teach us the way of prudence.
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the people;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open;
come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death.
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
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