"Joy to the World" is an English hymn and Christmas carol. Written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnist Isaac Watts, the hymn is usually sung to an 1848 arrangement by the American composer Lowell Mason of a tune attributed to George Frideric Handel. The hymn's lyrics are a Christian interpretation of Psalm 98 and Genesis 3.
Since the 20th century, "Joy to the World" has been the most-published Christmas carol in North America. , it was published in 1,387 hymnals in North America, according to the Dictionary of North American Hymnology.
Lyrics
"Joy to the World" has four stanzas, although the third stanza is occasionally omitted.