Bible Christmas Story
"Lo, I Bring You Tidings"
The Bible Christmas story of:
- an angel telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus, and
- the shepherds going to Bethlehem to see the new-born Babe, and
- Mary the mother of Jesus pondering all these things in her heart.
It is all here, along with many of the prophetic statements by Zechariah concerning the coming Messiah:
Please scroll down the page to find the links to the free printable PDFs in the keys of G, A, and Bb.
A close-up look
The second and third lines of the song, in the key of Bb:
The song lyrics
1. Lo, I bring you tidings, Hear God's tender mercies outpoured:
He has sent a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Down the Dayspring comes to men, made a child of earth.
Sing, Creation, for His birth! Alleluia!
2. Can this be Messiah, David's son as prophets did tell?
Shall a tiny Babe be our Emmanuel?
Let us go to Bethlehem, We will see this thing,
Haste, that we may greet our King, Alleluia.
3. Mary pondered greatly all the words the shepherds had said,
Watching close her baby, in his manger bed.
Here asleep the Son of God, and the Son of man,
Heav'n and earth within Him stand. Alleluia.
The words of scripture
These song lyrics rely greatly on the actual text of the Bible.
Luke 2:7-19:
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger...
... And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Zechariah the priest
The aged priest Zechariah spoke many of the words of this song, in the first chapter of the book of Luke in the New Testament portion of the Christian Bible.
The occasion was at the birth of his son.
John the Baptist - the cousin of Jesus
After nine or more months of being mute (there is a funny story behind that), Zechariah's lips were opened when he wrote down the name of his baby son, John, for all to see.
This little baby would grow up to become "John the Baptizer" or "John the Baptist", the one who spoke of Jesus (apparently his own cousin) as "the Lamb of God".
Luke 1:76-79:
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Guitar tabs in the key of G
The lyrics, on one page
Download the Bible Christmas story as a printable PDF, further down the page:
Interested in a version for your choir?
You can find an arrangement of "Lo I Bring You Tidings" with a hymn-like choral arrangement in several keys, at the site Music-for-Music-Teachers.com.
Please feel free to use this sheet music in your church or other worship group.
The links to the piano music:
Download the Bible Christmas story in the key of G
Download "Lo I Bring You Tidings" for piano in the key of A
Download Christmas carol about the shepherds in Bb
The link to the guitar tabs:
Download Bible story in the key of G for guitar
The link to the shepherd story lyrics:
Download the lyrics of "Lo, I Bring You Tidings"
The link to the choral arrangements:
Download 4-part harmony for singers, at my other website, Music-for-Music-Teachers.com
Thank you for visiting!
Interested in beginner & easy piano music for your piano, voice, & guitar students? Check out my other website, Music-for-Music-Teachers.com!
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Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and this newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
I also happen to love the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Christian worldview that portrays The Great War in the heavens, in which we here on earth are destined to be a part.
You can find out more about the reason for this website at the Home page.