My favorite Advent hymn

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain: Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, of all the nations King,
The world awaits thy ransoming;
Remove our hate and faithlessness,
Unite us who thy Name confess. Refrain.

O come, O come, thou Lord of Might,
Who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Refrain.

And so on, for seven verses. Of course, this familiar version is only an 1800s translation of a Latin hymn from the ninth century:

Veni, veni, Emmanuel;
Captivum solve Israel
Qui gemit in exilio,
Privatus Dei filio.

Refrain: Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te Israel.

Veni, veni, Rex gentium
Veni, Redemptor omnium.
Ut salvas tuos famulos
Peccati sibi conscios. Refrain.

Veni, veni, Adonai,
Qui populo in Sinai
Legem dedisti vertice
In majestate gloriae. Refrain.

I hope, of course, that you all know the tune to "O come, O come, Emmanuel." If not (poor deprived pagan children! ;) click here to hear it.