Angels, from the Realms of Glory is a Christmas carol by James Montgomery, a Sheffield newspaper editor, first printed on Christmas Eve 1816. Each stanza calls a different group to come to the manger: angels, shepherds, wise men, waiting saints and repentant sinners. Every stanza ends with the same invitation, Come and worship, Christ the new-born King, echoing the angels' song in Luke 2 and the command of Hebrews 1:6, "And let all the angels of God worship him."
James Montgomery (1771-1854) was a Scottish-born poet, the son of a Moravian minister, who ran a radical newspaper in Sheffield, England, and was jailed twice for what he printed. He wrote this carol for the Christmas Eve edition of his paper in 1816, and it became one of the best-loved carols in the English language. In America it is usually sung to the tune Regent Square by Henry Smart (1867); in Britain it is often sung to Iris, the French melody also used for Angels We Have Heard on High. The carol works like a roll call. Montgomery turns to each group in the Christmas story, and beyond it, and gives every one of them the same instruction. The angels who sang at creation are told to sing again. The shepherds are told to look up. The wise men are told to put down their books. The saints in the temple are told their long wait is over. And in the last stanza, often left out of modern hymnals, sinners are told that their sentence has been revoked. Below are Montgomery's own words from his 1825 collection, followed by the 12 KJV passages that stand behind each stanza.
Angels, from the Realms of Glory: the words
Verse 1
Angels, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth,
Ye who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth;
Refrain:
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Verse 2
Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant-light;
Refrain:
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Verse 3
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen his natal star;
Refrain:
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Verse 4
Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord descending
In his temple shall appear;
Refrain:
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Verse 5
Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doom'd for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you, break your chains;
Refrain:
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Words: James Montgomery, first printed in his newspaper The Iris (Sheffield) on December 24, 1816. Text as printed in Montgomery's own collection The Christian Psalmist (Glasgow, 1825), hymn 487, pages 389-390 (Internet Archive scan), checked against The Army and Navy Hymnal (Wikisource). The refrain is printed after each stanza. Public domain. Many modern hymnals leave out stanza 5 and add a doxology stanza that Montgomery did not write.
Angels and shepherds: Now proclaim Messiah's birth
1. Job 38:7
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Ye who sang creation's story. Montgomery begins before Bethlehem, at the making of the world. When God answered Job out of the whirlwind, He asked where Job was when the earth's foundations were laid, When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? The angels watched the first creation and sang. Montgomery's point is that the birth of Christ is the start of a new creation, and the same voices are called to sing again. The God who made the stars has now entered the world He made, and that is a bigger wonder than the stars themselves.
2. Hebrews 1:6
"And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."
Come and worship. The refrain of the carol is taken almost straight from Hebrews, which quotes the Old Testament to show that the Son is greater than the angels: And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. Angels do not worship each other, and they refuse worship from people (Revelation 22:8-9). If the angels of God are told to worship the child in the manger, then the child is God. The carol's simple refrain carries a whole doctrine: Christ the new-born King is to be worshipped, not only admired.
3. Luke 2:8
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."
Shepherds, in the field abiding, watching o'er your flocks by night. Montgomery's second stanza borrows Luke's own wording: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Shepherds were ordinary working men, and some in that day looked down on them. Yet they were the first to hear the news, in the middle of their night shift. God still tends to announce His best news to people who are simply doing their work, faithful in small things, awake when others are asleep.
4. John 1:9
"That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
Yonder shines the infant-light. The light over the shepherds was the glory of the Lord shining round about them (Luke 2:9), but Montgomery points to a greater light lying in the manger. John's Gospel says of Jesus: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. The infant-light is the Light of the world as a baby, small enough to be held, bright enough to light every person. God with man is now residing is the carol's version of John 1:14, the Word made flesh who dwelt among us.
Sages and saints: the Desire of nations comes to His temple
5. Colossians 2:3
"In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Sages, leave your contemplations. The wise men studied the sky and the old books, and their study brought them to the edge of the truth. Montgomery tells them to leave their contemplations behind, because brighter visions beam afar. Paul says of Christ: In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Learning is a good gift, and the Magi used theirs well, but their journey ended on their knees before a child (Matthew 2:11). All honest searching for wisdom is meant to end at the same place.
6. Malachi 3:1
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts."
Suddenly the Lord descending in his temple shall appear. The fourth stanza turns from the manger to the temple, and Montgomery takes his words from the last book of the Old Testament: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. For four hundred years after Malachi there was no prophet in Israel. Faithful people kept praying in the temple, watching long in hope and fear. Then, forty days after His birth, the Lord came to His temple, carried in His mother's arms (Luke 2:22).
7. Luke 2:38
"And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."
Saints, before the altar bending, watching long. Montgomery was thinking of Simeon and Anna, two old believers who met the baby Jesus in the temple. Anna was a widow of eighty-four who never left the temple and served God with fasting and prayers night and day. When she saw the child, she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. The stanza honors every believer who has waited long for God and kept praying. Those who wait for Him are not forgotten.
8. Psalms 29:2
"Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."
Come and worship. Each stanza closes with the same call, and it is the call of the Psalms: Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Worship is giving God what is due to Him. Montgomery calls angels, shepherds, scholars, saints and sinners to do the same thing, in the same words. At the manger, rank and learning make no difference. The angel who sang at creation and the shepherd who smells of sheep kneel together before the same King.
Sinners: Mercy calls you, break your chains
9. 2 Corinthians 7:10
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
Sinners, wrung with true repentance. The fifth stanza, left out of many modern hymnals, is the most personal. Wrung means twisted, squeezed by grief. Paul describes the difference between two kinds of sorrow: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Worldly sorrow is regret that only weighs a person down. Godly sorrow turns a person back to God and leads to life. Montgomery's sinners are not invited to feel worse; they are invited to come, just as they are, to the One who was born to save them.
10. Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Justice now revokes the sentence. Montgomery, who had stood before a judge and served time in York Castle, knew what a sentence felt like. His line captures the heart of the gospel: the verdict against the guilty is cancelled because Christ has carried it. Paul says: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Justice is not ignored; it is satisfied at the cross. That is why mercy can call with confidence. The baby in the manger came to stand where the guilty stand.
11. Psalms 107:14
"He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder."
Mercy calls you, break your chains. Psalm 107 tells of prisoners who sat in darkness, bound in affliction and iron because they had rebelled against God. When they cried to the LORD in their trouble, He saved them: He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Montgomery, a lifelong campaigner against the slave trade, wrote often about broken chains. In this carol the chains are spiritual: guilt, shame and the hold of sin. The King who was born in Bethlehem came to proclaim liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18).
12. Isaiah 45:23
"I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."
Come and worship. The carol invites people to worship freely now, at the manger. Scripture also says that one day every person will bow. God says through Isaiah: That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Paul applies this promise to Jesus in Philippians 2:10-11. Christmas is the season of invitation, when the King comes gently and calls rather than compels. The wise answer is to come now, with the shepherds and the sages, and to bow willingly before the new-born King who will one day be seen by all.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, new-born King, I join the angels, the shepherds and the wise men and I come to worship You. Thank You for leaving the realms of glory to live among us, the true Light shining in our darkness. Like Simeon and Anna, help me wait for You with hope and keep praying when the wait is long. Where I am weighed down by guilt, let me hear that the sentence has been revoked and that there is no condemnation in You. Break every chain that holds me, and teach me to give You the glory due Your name, this Christmas and always. Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
New to this method? See our Bible study guide or pick a Bible reading plan.
Print free Christmas Bible verse printables · Color the Christmas story with free Christian coloring pages · Memorize Hebrews 1:6 with Scripture memory cards
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Angels, from the Realms of Glory?
James Montgomery (1771-1854), a poet and newspaper editor in Sheffield, England, wrote the words. He printed them in his paper, The Iris, on December 24, 1816, under the title Nativity, and later included them in The Christian Psalmist (1825). Montgomery wrote about four hundred hymns, including Hail to the Lord's Anointed and Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire. The usual American tune, Regent Square, was written by Henry Smart in 1867.
Is Angels, from the Realms of Glory in the public domain?
Yes. Montgomery's words were published in 1816 and he died in 1854, so the text is in the public domain. The tunes Regent Square (1867) and Iris (a traditional French melody) are also public domain. Some modern versions add new refrains or bridges, and those additions may be under copyright, so check the source before printing a modern arrangement.
Why are there two different refrains?
When the carol is sung to Regent Square, the refrain is Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the new-born King, as Montgomery wrote it. When it is sung to the French tune Iris, many churches use the Latin refrain Gloria in excelsis Deo, borrowed from Angels We Have Heard on High, because the tunes are the same. Gloria in excelsis Deo means Glory to God in the highest, the angels' words in Luke 2:14.
What does Desire of nations mean in the carol?
It is a title for the Messiah taken from Haggai 2:7, where God promises that the desire of all nations shall come. Montgomery gives the title to the wise men, Gentiles from the east, because their journey showed that the child in Bethlehem was the hope not only of Israel but of every nation. The same title appears in Charles Wesley's Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Dear Desire of every nation.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Hark the Herald Angels Sing · Angels We Have Heard on High · Angels · The three wise men · Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus · The Christmas story in the Bible · Christmas · Worship · Once in Royal David's City (lyrics)
Explore more: All Bible verses by topic · KJV Bible verses · Verse of the day · Prayers · Bible study · Bible reading plans
