Voices of scripture · Bible
Nine Lessons
and Carols
Every Christmas Eve since 1918, King's College Chapel, Cambridge: nine Bible readings, read aloud by nine voices, each answered in song.
Snapshot
Every Christmas Eve since 1918, a service of nine Bible readings and carols has been held in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. Eric Milner-White, the new Dean and lately an army chaplain, adapted it from a service drawn up in 1880 for a wooden shed serving as Truro's cathedral. Since 1919 it has opened with “Once in royal David's city”. The BBC first broadcast it in 1928 and has carried it overseas since 1932; millions now listen around the world.
It is a reading tradition. King's College says the service's strength derives “from the lessons and not the music”. The readers run from the youngest chorister to the Provost.
Watch
From the choir's own channel
Hear the difference: read, then sung
Each lesson is read plainly, and the choir answers it in song. Watch the centenary service above, then the carol that has opened every service since 1919, with the descant by Sir Stephen Cleobury.
The nine readings
From Eden to the Word made flesh
The usual order at King's; the passages can vary slightly from year to year.
- Lesson 1
Genesis 3:8–15: The fall in the garden
- Lesson 2
Genesis 22:15–18: God's promise to Abraham
- Lesson 3
Isaiah 9:2: The people that walked in darkness
- Lesson 4
Isaiah 11:1: A shoot from the stem of Jesse
- Lesson 5
Luke 1:26–35: The angel Gabriel visits Mary
- Lesson 6
Luke 2:1–7: The birth in Bethlehem
- Lesson 7
Luke 2:8–16: The shepherds
- Lesson 8
Matthew 2:1–12: The wise men
- Lesson 9
John 1:1–14: “The Word became flesh”
The Christian telling
Christians have always read the Bible aloud in worship, and in many traditions the reading is chanted. In the Church of England the lectionary sets the readings for each day; at Choral Evensong the psalms are sung to Anglican chant and lessons from the Old and New Testaments are read aloud.
A voice for the King James Bible
The best-known English Bible voice of the 20th century belonged to the actor Alexander Scourby (1913–1985), who recorded talking books for the American Foundation for the Blind and recorded the complete King James Version. His recording is still sold; we link to it rather than play it. American Foundation for the Blind ↗
Gospel
In the gospel tradition of African American churches, scripture becomes song, testimony and call-and-response. We will add a recording when we find one from its rights-holder.
Bible · chantThe monks of SolesmesGregorian chant, and Byzantine chant from the East.
Across the traditionsVoices of scriptureThe Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an read aloud.Sources
- King's College Cambridge, “A History of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols”
- Films: King's College Choir official channel (@KingsCollegeChoir).
Picture credits
- King's College Chapel Ceiling, mrdannynavarro, CC BY-SA 2.0
Watch more: Nine Lessons and Carols
3 films and talks, chosen for this page. They play here.
Introducing Nine Lessons & Carols - 2012
KingsCollegeChoir · 7 min
King's College Cambridge introduces Nine Lessons and Carols.
Carols from King's: Centenary Celebration - Jeremy Summerly
Gresham College · 49 min
Gresham College: Carols from King's, a centenary lecture.
Church of England Christmas 2017 - Nine Lessons & Carols (#GodWithUs)
The Church of England · 2 min
- More films and talks on F-ILMWatch free