God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is a traditional English Christmas carol, sung in the streets of London by the 1700s and first known in print in a broadside of about 1760. Its first line does not mean merry gentlemen. It means God rest you merry: may God keep you in good cheer, gentlemen. The reason given is the Gospel itself: Jesus Christ our Saviour was born to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray. Its refrain echoes the angel's words to the shepherds: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10). The words and tune are in the public domain.
Some carols are lullabies and some are hymns. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is a street carol, the kind of song that waits played outside houses on cold December nights in old England. In A Christmas Carol (1843) Dickens has a boy sing it at Scrooge's keyhole. Below are the words, the meaning of that famous first line, and 12 KJV verses behind the carol, verse by verse. For the full account, read the Christmas story in the Bible; for another shepherds' carol, see Go Tell It on the Mountain.
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen: the words
Verse 1
God rest ye merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
Was born upon this day,
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray.
Refrain:
O tidings of comfort and joy,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day.
Verse 2
In Bethlehem, in Jewry,
This blessed babe was born,
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn;
The which his mother Mary
Nothing did take in scorn.
Verse 3
From God our heavenly Father
A blessed angel came,
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same,
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name.
Verse 4
Fear not, then said the angel,
Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of virtue, power and might;
So frequently to vanquish all
The friends of Satan quite.
Verse 5
The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind,
And went to Bethlehem straightway,
This blessed babe to find.
Verse 6
But when to Bethlehem they came,
Whereas this infant lay,
They found him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His mother Mary kneeling
Unto the Lord did pray.
Verse 7
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
Words: traditional English carol. The earliest known printing is a London broadside, Three New Christmas Carols (about 1760); the seven verses above follow William Sandys, Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (London, 1833), as transcribed on Wikipedia, with modern spelling. Sandys prints God rest you merry; the form ye, used here, is already in a 1775 printing (The Beauties of the Magazines) and became usual in America. Sandys's refrain is printed after verse 1 and sung after every verse; most American hymnals sing O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy, O tidings of comfort and joy instead. Verses 2 and 4 are often left out, so many books print five verses. Jewry means Judea; deface is old English for outshine. Public domain.
Let nothing you dismay (verse 1)
1. John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. The carol opens with a blessing and a command not to be afraid. Jesus gave His disciples the same gift on the night before He died: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Dismay means losing heart in the face of trouble. The carol does not tell people to cheer up because life is easy. It tells them to take heart because Jesus Christ was born. See Bible verses about peace.
2. Isaiah 53:6
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
When we were gone astray. The carol is honest about why we need a Savior. Isaiah had said it seven hundred years before Bethlehem: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Gone astray is the carol's phrase and Isaiah's. The good news of Christmas is that God did not leave His lost sheep to wander, but laid our sin on His own Son. See Isaiah 53 meaning.
3. Luke 19:10
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
To save us all. The carol says plainly why Jesus was born: not only to be admired, but to save. Jesus said it of Himself after He brought salvation to the house of Zacchaeus, a tax collector everyone despised: For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Notice who does the seeking. We wander off; He comes looking. Christmas is the beginning of God's great search for lost people, and nobody is too far gone to be found. See Bible verses about salvation.
4. 1 John 3:8
"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
From Satan's power. Old carols do not shy away from the devil, and neither does the Bible. John explains one reason the Son of God came into the world: He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Manifested means made visible, born among us. The baby in Bethlehem was a declaration of war on everything that ruins human lives: sin, lies, guilt and death. See Bible verses about spiritual warfare.
Tidings of comfort and joy (verses 2 to 4)
5. Galatians 4:4
"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,"
In Bethlehem, in Jewry, this blessed babe was born. Jewry is an old English word for Judea, the land of the Jews. The carol stresses that Jesus was born in a real place at a real time, and Paul says the time was chosen: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Fulness of the time means the moment God had set. Made of a woman means truly human; made under the law means born a Jew, keeping God's law for us. See the genealogy of Jesus.
6. Luke 2:10
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."
Fear not, then said the angel, let nothing you affright. The carol's fourth verse is almost word for word from Luke. When the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds and they were sore afraid, the angel said: And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Tidings means news. That is where the carol's refrain comes from: O tidings of comfort and joy. The news was not only for the shepherds, or only for Israel, but for all people, including every listener at the door when the carolers sang. See Bible verses about joy.
7. 2 Corinthians 1:3
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;"
Comfort and joy belong together in the refrain, and the Bible calls God the source of both. Paul begins one of his letters with praise: Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. Comfort in old English meant strengthening, not only soothing. Its comfort comes from the Father of mercies who sent His Son, and that comfort is strong enough to share with others who are hurting (2 Corinthians 1:4). See Bible verses about comfort and strength.
8. Hebrews 2:14
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;"
This day is born a Saviour of virtue, power and might, so frequently to vanquish all the friends of Satan quite. Virtue here means strength. How would a newborn baby defeat the devil? Hebrews answers: by becoming one of us and dying for us. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Took part of the same means He shared our flesh and blood. Christmas and Easter are one story: He was born so that He could die, and He died so that death would lose its power. See Bible verses about victory.
Now to the Lord sing praises (verses 5 to 7)
9. Luke 1:46-47
"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."
His mother Mary kneeling unto the Lord did pray. The carol pictures Mary at prayer beside the manger. Luke shows us what her prayers sounded like. When she visited Elizabeth before the birth, she sang: And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Magnify means make great. Mary called God her Saviour, the same title the angel gave her son. Verse 2 of the carol adds that she nothing did take in scorn, meaning she did not despise the humble stable. Her quiet trust is a model for anyone whose Christmas looks nothing like they planned. See Mary, the mother of Jesus.
10. Psalms 47:6
"Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises."
Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place. The carol ends by turning everyone who hears it into singers. An ancient psalm does the same, repeating its call four times in one verse: Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. The psalm celebrates God as King over all the earth (Psalm 47:7). The carol's King is the baby of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ our Saviour. Christmas praise was never meant only for choirs. It belongs to everyone within this place, wherever this place is for you. See Bible verses about worship.
11. Psalms 133:1
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace. The carol's last verse asks for reconciliation, and Christmas is a good time for it. The psalmist says: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Brethren means brothers and sisters, the family of God. The carol's answer is not to pretend, but to embrace each other because God has embraced us. See Bible verses about unity.
12. 1 Peter 1:22
"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:"
This holy tide of Christmas all other doth deface. Tide means season, and deface in old English meant outshine. The carol says Christmas outshines every other season because of the love it brings. Peter describes that love: Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Unfeigned means real, not pretended; fervently means with all your strength. The joy of Christmas is not finished when the decorations come down. It goes on in people who keep loving one another because they have been loved by God. See Bible verses about love.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, thank You for coming to save us all when we were gone astray. When I am dismayed, give me Your peace, a peace the world cannot give or take away. Thank You for the tidings of comfort and joy that the angel brought to the shepherds, news for all people and for me. You came to destroy the works of the devil and to break the power of death. Like Mary, I want to magnify You and rejoice in God my Saviour. Help me to love others with true love and brotherhood this Christmas and all year. 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What does God rest ye merry gentlemen mean?
The comma matters. The line is God rest ye merry, gentlemen, not God rest ye, merry gentlemen. In older English, rest meant keep or remain, and merry meant cheerful or in good spirits. So the line means may God keep you in good cheer, gentlemen. The rest of the verse gives the reason: Jesus Christ our Saviour was born to save us all. Shakespeare used the same kind of greeting in As You Like It, and the phrase is recorded from the 1500s.
Who wrote God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen?
No one knows. It is a traditional English carol, sung by street waits and carolers long before it was written down. The earliest known printing is a London broadside called Three New Christmas Carols from about 1760, and a 1775 magazine printed a version bought from a street singer. William Sandys published the seven verses most books use in his Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern in 1833. The usual tune is a traditional English melody in a minor key.
Is God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen in the public domain?
Yes. The words are traditional and were printed in the 1700s and in 1833, and the traditional tune is just as old, so both are in the public domain in the United States. The text on this page follows Sandys's 1833 printing. Modern arrangements and recordings, such as choral or band arrangements made in recent decades, can be under copyright, so check before you copy a particular arrangement or recording.
What Bible verses is God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen based on?
The carol retells Luke 2:1-20: the birth in Bethlehem, the manger, the angel's message to the shepherds, and their journey to find the child. Its fourth verse paraphrases Luke 2:10-11, and its refrain, tidings of comfort and joy, comes from the angel's good tidings of great joy. The reason it gives for Christmas, to save us all from Satan's power, echoes 1 John 3:8 and Hebrews 2:14. This page lists 12 KJV verses behind the carol.
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 · Go Tell It on the Mountain · It Came Upon the Midnight Clear · The First Noel · Angels We Have Heard on High · Joy · Christmas prayer
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