Once in Royal David’s City
Author: Cecil Frances Alexander
Composer: Varies by tune (see below)
Languages (17)
This song text has been indexed at SingPraises.net in the following languages:
- Albanian: Dikur në Qytet t’Davidit
- Cantonese (Romanized/Pingyam): [Unknown title]
- Chinese (Simplified): 昔日在大卫王城中
- Chinese (Traditional): 昔日在大衛王城中
- Danish: Født hos dyrene i stalden
- English: Once in Royal David’s City
- English Braille: ⠠⠕⠝⠉⠑ ⠔ ⠠⠗⠕⠽⠁⠇ ⠠⠙⠁⠧⠊⠙⠦⠄⠎ ⠠⠉⠊⠞⠽
- Estonian: Kord Taaveti linnas
- Fijian: E na Koro i Tevita
- Hungarian: Egykor Dávid városában
- Kekchi: Junxil chaq saʼ xtenamit laj David
- Lithuanian: Dovydo mieste, tvartely
- Mandarin (Romanized/Pinyin): Xírì zài Dàwèiwáng chéng zhōng
- Mongolian: Эрт үед Давид хааны хотод
- Polish: W Dawidowym mieście
- Russian: В городе царя Давида
- Swahili: Kwenye Mji wa Daudi
- All Languages →
Statistics
Most common tunes for “Once in Royal David’s City”
This chart shows the tunes that are paired with this text most frequently, in hymnbooks and other collections published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If the text appears with the same tune in multiple editions or translations of the same hymnbook, it is only counted once.
Appearances of “Once in Royal David’s City” over time
This timeline shows which tunes have been used with this text over time, in hymnbooks and other collections published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Copyright status of original text
This text was first published in English, in 1848 or earlier.
Public domain
Earliest source indexed at SingPraises.net: Lutheran Service Book and Hymnal (1958), 41.
Representative lyrics
English (Original Language)
1. Once in royal David’s city Stood a lowly cattle shed, Where a mother laid her baby In a manger for his bed: Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.
2. He came down to earth from heaven, Who is God and Lord of all, And his shelter was a stable, And his cradle was a stall; With the poor, and mean, and lowly, Lived on earth our Savior holy.
3. And our eyes at last shall see him, Through his own redeeming love; For that child so dear and gentle Is our Lord in heav’n above, And he leads his children on To the place where he is gone.