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Matthew 1:18–25—A Hymn to Honor Bethlehem

The poem “O Little Town of Bethlehem” was written by Phillips Brooks (1835–93), an Episcopal priest in 1868; his organist, Lewis Redner, set the poem to music and it became a well-known Christmas carol. The first verse is:

O little town of Bethlehem,

How still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting Light;

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight.