Christ the Lord Is Risen Today Charles Wesley, 1739
4 verses, sung to Llanfair (7.7.7.7.with.Alleluias), public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. Christ, the Lord, is ris’n today; Hallelujah!
Sons of men and angels say: Hallelujah!
Raise your joys and triumphs high; Hallelujah!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and, earth, reply. Hallelujah!
Verse 2. Love’s redeeming work is done, Hallelujah!
Fought the fight, the battle won: Hallelujah!
Lo! our Sun’s eclipse is o’er; Hallelujah!
Lo! he sets in blood no more. Hallelujah!
Verse 3. Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Hallelujah!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell: Hallelujah!
Death in vain forbids his rise, Hallelujah!
Christ hath opened paradise. Hallelujah!
Verse 4. Soar we now where Christ hath led, Hallelujah!
Foll’wing our exalted head: Hallelujah!
Made like him, like him we rise: Hallelujah!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies. Hallelujah!
Words copied from New Baptist Hymnal (1926). They were published in 1739, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
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The story behind Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Charles Wesley published Christ the Lord Is Risen Today in 1739 in Hymns and Sacred Poems. The first edition had eleven stanzas. It is a new hymn and not a translation. Wesley copied the rhyming couplets of an old Latin Easter text, Surrexit Christus hodie, which survives in fourteenth century manuscripts.
The tune is older than Wesley's words. EASTER HYMN first appeared in 1708 in Lyra Davidica, a London collection published by John Walsh. It carried an anonymous English text that began Jesus Christ is risen today. The first printing of the tune was ornate. John Arnold simplified it into the form most churches sing in The Compleat Psalmodist in 1749. The Hymnology Archive gives Arnold's book as 1749 in its text and 1750 in a caption. Hymnary.org names no composer for the tune. Wesley's 1742 Foundery collection paired his new words with it.
The Alleluias at the end of each line are later additions by editors who fitted the words to the tune. In 1760 John Madan dropped stanzas 7 to 9 and left eight, and most later versions come from his form. The opening Christ, our Lord is from Cotterill's Selection of 1810. The Wesleyan hymn book left the hymn out in 1780 and restored it in an 1830 supplement.
Hymnary.org ties the stanzas to Matthew 28:1 to 10 for the resurrection, Acts 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:20 to 23 and Philippians 2:10 and 3:10 to 11. The Baptist Hymnal 1975 prints the tune in C major.
Charles Wesley
1707-12-18 to 1788-03-29
Charles Wesley was born at Epworth Rectory, the youngest son and eighteenth child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley. He studied at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, and became one of the first Oxford Methodists. He was ordained in 1735 and went to Georgia as secretary to General Oglethorpe. After his conversion in 1738 he worked with his brother John as an itinerant preacher, and from 1756 he focused on the Methodist societies in London and Bristol. He married Sarah Gwynne in 1749. He stayed loyal to the Church of England. Hymnary.org lists 2,474 texts under his name, and he died in London.
- Hymnary.org, Christ the Lord Is Risen Today (Wesley) , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnology Archive, Surrexit Christus hodie , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, EASTER HYMN (Lyra Davidica) , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Baptist Hymnal 1975, 114 (tune, key) , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Matthew 28:1-10
- Acts 2:24
- Hosea 13:14
- 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
- Philippians 3:10-11
- Philippians 2:10
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today videos
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Christ The Lord Is Risen Today • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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Christ the Lord Is Risen Today | The Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Choir
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Christ, The Lord, Is Risen Today - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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Christ the Lord Is Risen Today - piano instrumental hymn Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Christ the Lord is Risen Today | Reawaken Hymns | Official Lyric Video Reawaken Hymns, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Downloads, printing and slides
Sheet music files
- Sheet music PDF 103 KB. Words and all four parts, ready to print.
- Lead sheet PDF 87 KB. Melody, words and chord symbols for piano or guitar.
- MusicXML score XML 78 KB. Opens in MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius and Dorico to change the key or print parts.
- MIDI, all parts MIDI 2 KB. Plays the four-part harmony in any MIDI player or notation app.
- MIDI, melody only MIDI 1 KB. The tune alone, for learning it.
Practice tracks for each voice part, as MIDI: Alto , Tenor , Bass .
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in C.
Questions people ask
Who wrote Christ the Lord Is Risen Today?
Charles Wesley wrote the words and published them in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. The tune EASTER HYMN comes from Lyra Davidica in 1708.
Is Christ the Lord Is Risen Today the same as Jesus Christ Is Risen Today?
They are two different texts sung to the same tune. The Jesus Christ version is an anonymous English text from 1708, and Wesley wrote his own words in 1739.
Who added the Alleluias to Christ the Lord Is Risen Today?
Later editors added them to fit the tune. Wesley's own stanzas did not have them.
Is Christ the Lord Is Risen Today in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. Wesley published them in 1739, and the tune dates to 1708.
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