Isaiah 11:1 says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”  This German hymn, dating from 1560, was translated by Theodore Baker (vv1-2), Harriett Spaeth (vv3-4) and John Mattes (v5).  Taken from The Trinity Hymnal, Revised Edition, 1990.  Hymn #221.

Lo, how a rose e’er blooming
From the tender stem hath sprung
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
As men of old have sung
It came, a floweret bright
Amid the cold of winter
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind
With Mary we behold it
The virgin mother kind
To show God’s love aright
She bore to men a Savior
When half-spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story
Proclaimed by angels bright
Christ, the Lord of glory
Was born on earth this night
To Bethlehem they sped
And in the manger found Him
As angel heralds said.

This flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere
True man, yet very God
From sin and death He saves us
And lightens every load.

O Savior, child of Mary
Who felt our human woe
O Savior, king of glory,
Who dost our weakness know
Bring us at length we pray
To the bright courts of heaven
And to the endless day.