Candles

First candle of advent~

 

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Comfort, comfort ye my people,

Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;

Comfort those who sit in darkness,

Mourning 'neath their sorrow's load.

Speak ye to Jerusalem

Of the peace that waits for them;

Tell her that her sins I cover,

And her warfare now is over.

Yea, her sins our God will pardon,

Blotting out each dark misdeed;

All that well deserved his anger

He no more will see or heed.

She hath suffered many a day

Now her griefs have passed away;

God will change her pining sadness

Into ever-springing gladness.

 

For the herald's voice is crying

In the desert far and near

Bidding all men to repentance,

Since the kingdom now is here.

O that warning cry obey!

Now prepare for God a way;

Let the valleys rise to meet him,

And the hills bow down to greet him

Make ye straight what long was crooked

Make the rougher places plain;

Let your hearts be true and humble,

As befits his holy reign.

For the glory of the Lord

Now o'er earth is shed abroad;

And all flesh shall see the token

That his word is never broken

~Johannes Olearius, 1671