Go Tell It on the Mountain is an African American spiritual and Christmas song. Its refrain, Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, that Jesus Christ is born, comes from the oral tradition of enslaved Christians in the 1800s and was first printed in 1909 by the Hampton Institute in Virginia. The shepherd verses most churches sing were added by John Wesley Work Jr. of Fisk University. The song turns the shepherds' response into a call: when the shepherds had seen the child, "they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child" (Luke 2:17). The 1909 words are in the public domain.
Go Tell It on the Mountain is the Christmas song of the spirituals: songs of faith created and sung by enslaved African Americans, passed on by ear, and later collected by schools like Fisk University in Nashville and Hampton Institute in Virginia. At Fisk, students used to sing it before dawn on Christmas morning, walking from building to building to wake the campus. It is a song about telling. The shepherds heard the news, saw the child, and could not keep quiet, and the spiritual hands that job to everyone who sings it. Below are the oldest printed words, the story of how the song was saved, and 12 KJV verses behind it. For the Christmas story, read the Christmas story in the Bible; for another spiritual, see Were You There.
Go Tell It on the Mountain: the words
Refrain
Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.
Verse 1
When I was a seeker,
I sought both night and day,
I asked the Lord to help me,
And He showed me the way.
Verse 2
He made me a watchman
Upon a city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.
Words: African American spiritual. The refrain and these two verses are from the earliest known printing, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro as Sung on the Plantations (Hampton Institute, new edition 1909, p. 174, titled Go Tell It on the Mountain, Christmas Plantation Song), with its dialect spelling (de, an') put into standard English. Public domain. The three shepherd verses most hymnals print today (they begin with shepherds keeping watch by night) are credited to John Wesley Work Jr.; their first printing is uncertain and a 1940 book by his son claimed copyright, so this page describes them instead of reprinting them.
The shepherd verses sung in most churches
Most hymnals since the 1940s sing the refrain with three newer verses that tell Luke 2 in order: shepherds keeping watch over silent flocks by night, a holy light shining in the heavens, the shepherds trembling as the angel chorus hailed the Savior's birth, and the humble Christ born in a lowly manger, God's gift of salvation on Christmas morning. The 12 KJV verses below follow both versions: the refrain, the two seeker and watchman verses, and the Christmas story of the shepherd verses.
Go tell it on the mountain (refrain)
1. Isaiah 40:9
"O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!"
Go tell it on the mountain. The picture comes straight from Isaiah, who told the messenger of good news to climb high and shout: O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! A mountain is where a voice carries farthest. Behold your God is exactly the Christmas message: God has come to His people in Jesus. The spiritual tells every believer to be that messenger, loudly and without fear.
2. Isaiah 52:7
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
Over the hills and everywhere. Isaiah also pictured a runner crossing the hills with good news: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Publisheth means announces. Paul quotes this verse about everyone who preaches the gospel (Romans 10:15). For enslaved Christians, who were often forbidden to gather or read, singing good news over the hills was itself an act of faith and courage. See Bible verses about sharing your faith.
3. Luke 2:17
"And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child."
The shepherds were the first to go and tell it. After they found the baby, Luke says: And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Made known abroad means they spread the word everywhere they went. They had no training and no platform, only what they had heard and seen. That is still the heart of Christian witness: telling others what God has done. The spiritual turns their example into a command for us. See the Christmas story in the Bible.
4. Mark 16:15
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Everywhere is the key word of the refrain. After His resurrection, Jesus gave His followers the widest possible mission: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The good news that began on the hills of Bethlehem was meant for the whole world. Many hymnals pair Go Tell It on the Mountain with this command, and some churches sing it at the end of Christmas services as a sending song. An Easter version of the refrain even sings that Jesus lives again, joining Christmas to the empty tomb.
When I was a seeker (the 1909 verses)
5. Jeremiah 29:13
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
When I was a seeker, I sought both night and day. The oldest printed verse is a personal testimony. It echoes God's promise to His people in exile: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Seeking night and day is searching with all your heart. In many African American churches, a seeker was someone praying and waiting to come to faith, sometimes for days. The verse says the search was not in vain: the Lord helped and showed the way. See Jeremiah 29:11 meaning.
6. Matthew 7:7
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:"
I asked the Lord to help me, and He showed me the way. Jesus promised that honest seeking is answered: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. The verbs are ongoing in the original language: keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. The seeker in the spiritual did exactly that, and found that God does not hide from those who look for Him. Jesus later said He Himself is the way (John 14:6). See John 14 KJV and Bible verses about prayer.
7. Ezekiel 33:7
"So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me."
He made me a watchman upon a city wall. A watchman stood on the wall to see danger or good news coming and to call it out to the city. God gave the prophet Ezekiel that role: So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. The singer of the spiritual says God gave him the same job. A watchman's duty is to speak what he sees, which is why this verse belongs in a song about telling it on the mountain.
8. Ephesians 3:8
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;"
And if I am a Christian, I am the least of all. This humble line sounds like the apostle Paul, who wrote: Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul never got over the grace that called him. The singer does not boast about being a watchman. He knows it is a gift. That is the right spirit for sharing faith: not pride, but gratitude that God would use someone so small to tell such big news. See Bible verses about humility.
That Jesus Christ is born (the shepherd verses)
9. Luke 2:11
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
That Jesus Christ is born. Every refrain ends with the news the angel first gave: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. The shepherd verses most churches sing tell this part of the story: the watch by night, the holy light, the angel chorus. Unto you means the news is personal. It was for the shepherds, and through them for everyone. Go tell it on the mountain is the natural response to good news this big: you cannot keep a Saviour to yourself. See Silent Night.
10. Luke 2:20
"And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them."
After they saw the baby, the shepherds went back to work, but changed: And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. They praised God on the way back to the fields. Telling and praising go together in Luke 2, and they go together in the spiritual too. The song is joyful, often sung with clapping and call-and-response, because good news makes people sing. See Bible verses about worship.
11. Matthew 28:19
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
Many hymnals list this verse beside the song, because the refrain sounds like the Great Commission: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teach here means make disciples. The baby whose birth the shepherds announced grew up, died and rose again, and then sent His followers to every nation. Go tell it on the mountain is a Christmas song with a mission inside it. See Bible verses about sharing the gospel.
12. Psalms 96:3
"Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people."
Long before the shepherds, the psalmist told God's people to take His fame to the whole world: Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. Heathen here means the nations, everyone outside Israel. Psalm 96 is a call to sing a new song to the LORD and to tell of His salvation from day to day (Psalm 96:1-2). The spiritual is a new song in that tradition, born among people who had every reason to despair, declaring God's glory over the hills and everywhere. See Bible verses about worship.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for the good news that You are born, the Savior of the world. Like the seeker in the song, I want to seek You with all my heart, and I thank You for showing me the way. Make me a faithful watchman, humble and grateful, who speaks what I have seen and heard. Give me courage like the shepherds to tell others about You, at home, at work and everywhere. Let my life declare Your glory among all people. 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 · Read the Christmas story with the free Advent reading plan · Memorize Luke 2 with Scripture memory cards
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Go Tell It on the Mountain?
No one knows who first sang it. It is an African American spiritual from the 1800s, passed on by ear before it was written down. The earliest known printing is in Religious Folk Songs of the Negro, published by Hampton Institute in 1909. John Wesley Work Jr. (1872 to 1925), a teacher and choir leader at Fisk University, is credited with the shepherd verses most hymnals print, and his family helped make the song widely known.
Is Go Tell It on the Mountain in the public domain?
The refrain and the verses of the 1909 Hampton printing are in the public domain, and those are the words printed on this page. Many hymnals also list the familiar shepherd verses as public domain, but their first printing is uncertain and a 1940 songbook by John W. Work III claimed copyright, so we describe those verses instead of reprinting them. Modern arrangements and recordings may be under copyright.
What Bible verse is Go Tell It on the Mountain based on?
The story behind the song is Luke 2:8-20, especially Luke 2:17, where the shepherds made known abroad what they had been told about the child. The refrain also echoes Isaiah 40:9 (get thee up into the high mountain) and Isaiah 52:7 (how beautiful upon the mountains). Hymnals often link it to Matthew 28:19, the command to go to all nations.
Is Go Tell It on the Mountain a Christmas song or an Easter song?
It is mainly a Christmas song: the refrain ends that Jesus Christ is born, and the shepherd verses tell the nativity story. Because the spiritual was passed on by ear, an Easter refrain also exists, which sings that Jesus lives again. Some churches use it at Epiphany too, as a song about making Christ known to the nations. It works any time the church is sent out to share the good news.
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: Christmas · The Christmas story in the Bible · Sharing the gospel · Were You There · Silent Night · God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen · Joy to the World · Mountains
Explore more: All Bible verses by topic · KJV Bible verses · Verse of the day · Prayers · Bible study · Bible reading plans
