“Once in Royal David’s City,” Four Ways

“Once in Royal David’s City”–King’s College Choir
“Once in Royal David’s City”–Mormon Tabernacle Choir
“Once in Royal David’s City”–Sufjan Stevens
“Once in Royal David’s City”–Will Todd Trio

Once in royal David’s city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed;
Mary, loving mother mild,
Jesus Christ, her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall.
With the poor, the scorned, the lowly
lived on earth our Savior holy.

Jesus is our childhood’s pattern;
day by day, like us he grew;
he was little, weak, and helpless,
tears and smiles like us he knew;
and he feeleth for our sadness,
and he shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him,
through his own redeeming love;
for that child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heaven above;
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.