Joy to the World Isaac Watts, 1719
4 verses, sung to Antioch (8.6.8.6.6.8), public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. Joy to the world! the Lord is come:
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
Verse 2. Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns:
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
Verse 3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow,
Far as the curse is found.
Verse 4. He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.
Words copied from The Otterbein Hymnal (1892). They were published in 1719, 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 Joy to the World
Isaac Watts wrote this hymn as a paraphrase of the second half of Psalm 98. It first appeared in 1719 in his book The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, under the heading "The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom." Watts read the psalm as a song about Christ, and the words look ahead to the day the Lord reigns over all the earth. He did not write it for Christmas. The third stanza, about the curse in Genesis 3, has no match in the psalm, and some hymnals leave it out.
The tune is ANTIOCH. Its opening phrases echo passages in Handel's Messiah, though Handel did not compose it as a hymn tune. Someone pieced fragments of the oratorio together, and Lowell Mason, the Boston music teacher, arranged them and named the tune. Sources differ on the date. Discipleship Ministries says Mason published it in 1836, and other sources say 1839. The second half of the tune repeats the words in a lively, overlapping style that William Billings made popular in early America.
Antioch is the standard tune for this text in North America and is almost unknown in Britain. Hymnary.org notes that congregations sing the hymn widely at Christmas. The Psalter Hymnal Handbook adds that it fits any time of year when the link to Psalm 98 is clear.
Isaac Watts
1674-07-17 to 1748-11-25
Isaac Watts was born in Southampton, England, on July 17, 1674, the son of a schoolmaster. He became a Nonconformist minister in London and lived his last years at Stoke Newington. His Hymns and Spiritual Songs first appeared in 1707 with 210 hymns, and a larger second edition followed in 1709. The Psalms of David Imitated came out in 1719. Counts of his hymns vary. Hutchins says more than 800, and Julian lists 454 hymns and psalm versions still in common use. Watts died on November 25, 1748, and was buried at Bunhill Fields in London.
Lowell Mason
1792-01-08 to 1872-08-11
Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Massachusetts, on January 8, 1792. He worked as a bank clerk in Savannah, Georgia, before turning to music. His first major collection of church music came out in 1822 through the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, and he became the society's president and conductor in 1827. He moved to Boston in 1826 and founded the Boston Academy of Music. Hymnary calls him the father of American church music. He left Boston for New York in 1851 and died on August 11, 1872, at his home on Orange Mountain, New Jersey. He left his music library to Yale College.
- Hymnary.org: Joy to the world! the Lord is come , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org: ANTIOCH (Handel) , read 2026-10-16
- Discipleship Ministries: History of Hymns, Joy to the World , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in Joy to the World
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Psalm 98:4-9
- Psalm 96:11-12
- Genesis 3:17-18
- Isaiah 35:1-10
Joy to the World videos
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Joy To The World! • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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Joy to the World (2017) - Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble & The Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Choir
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Joy To The World - A Cappella Hymn A Cappella Hymns, A cappella
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Joy to the World - Christmas piano instrumental with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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Chris Tomlin - Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy) [Lyric Video] Chris Tomlin, 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 100 KB. Words and all four parts, ready to print.
- Lead sheet PDF 86 KB. Melody, words and chord symbols for piano or guitar.
- MusicXML score XML 68 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 D.
Questions people ask
Is Joy to the World a Christmas song?
Isaac Watts did not write it for Christmas. He paraphrased Psalm 98, and the hymn looks ahead to Christ's reign over the earth. Congregations adopted it for Christmas, and Hymnary.org notes that it is widely sung then.
Who wrote Joy to the World and who wrote the tune?
Isaac Watts wrote the words, published in 1719. The tune ANTIOCH was arranged by Lowell Mason from melodic fragments linked to Handel's Messiah.
Which Bible passage is Joy to the World based on?
It paraphrases the second half of Psalm 98. The second stanza also echoes Psalm 96:11-12, and the third stanza draws on the curse in Genesis 3:17-18.
Is Joy to the World in the public domain?
Yes. The words are public domain in the United States, first published in 1719. The tune ANTIOCH, arranged by Lowell Mason in the 1830s, is public domain as well.
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