Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing.

These lines are the opening stanza of Isaac Watts’s hymn “Joy to the World,” first published in 1719 in his collection *The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament*. Watts, a leading English Nonconformist hymn writer, intended the piece as a Christian paraphrase and “imitation” of Psalm 98, recasting the psalm’s call for universal rejoicing as a celebration of Christ’s kingship and coming reign. Although now closely associated with Christmas, Watts’s text is not strictly a Nativity hymn; it emphasizes the Lord’s advent and sovereign rule, inviting the whole earth—and every heart—to respond in praise.

The stanza announces the arrival of the Lord as King and frames that arrival as a cosmic event: not only humanity but “heav’n and nature” are summoned to sing. The imperative “Let earth receive her King” shifts the focus from passive celebration to active welcome, while “Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room” internalizes the theme, urging moral and spiritual readiness rather than mere outward festivity. In Watts’s characteristic style, biblical language is reshaped into direct devotional address, presenting Christ’s coming as both a historical hope and an ongoing demand for personal and communal transformation under divine rule.

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.

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.”
2) “Let every heart prepare Him room” (modernized spelling replacing “ev’ry”).
3) “And heaven and nature sing” (modernized spelling replacing “heav’n”).