God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is a Romantic Era Chritmas Carol by an unknown author

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ our Saviour [alt:Remember Christ our Saviour]
Was born upon this day [alt:Was born on Christmas Day]
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel, [alt:in Jewry]
This blessèd Babe was born[alt:This blessèd Babe is born]
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessèd morn[alt:Upon that blessèd morn]
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy


From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

"Fear not then," said the Angel,
"Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's power and might."
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway
This blessed Babe to find. [alt:The Son of God to find]
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

But when to Bethlehem they came [alt:And when they came to Bethlehem]
Whereat this Infant lay, [Where our dear Saviour lay]
They found Him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His Mother Mary kneeling, [alt:His mother Mary kneeling down]
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

The alternate lines really alter the sense of the story told by this Carol. Not so much the facts, but the experience. Especially the first few verses. One set of lyrics places the singer as part of the story and the audience is also thus placed. This set makes it a presently occurring event. But another set makes it an event occurring long ago and takes the singer and the audience out of the story's setting. The first few verses set tense for the whole song, either to 2000 years ago, or the here and now, even when the song changes tense within one of these time frames. This is an interesting aspect of the song. The alternate words do a lot more than just convert the carol to modern language, they change the setting.
There is an even more interesting aspect to the changed words. If asked what country Jesus was born in, most people today would answer, "Israel". Why wouldn't they? Christmas carols, stories, traditions, even some Bible translations, and even some history textbooks say "Israel". So many people believe it to be so. But, Jesus was actually born in a providence of the Roman Empire called Syria Palaestina. Yes, the area was once called Israel, and is called Israel today. But it wasn't at that particular time. This is an oft forgotten historical fact. Pay particular attention to the alternate 1st line in the 2nd verse. The use of this word can be explained by the fact that their was no official nation of Israel at the time of the carol's writing, nor when Jesus was born. "Jewry" is not nation specific, it is people specific. By saying "Jewry" the carol is not pinned down to a particular time and can be assumed to be set in the time of Jesus' birth because of the other elements in the story. Changing it to "Israel", dates the song at May 14, 1948 or later. The song is now anachronistic and perpetuates a flaw in people's accurate understanding of history. Language, songs, poetry and music are very important to understanding history. One can see where the telling of accurate history could be lost or changed by altering a few words in a work of popular entertainment. Which brings me to point of this particular rant; Even if motives are innocent of any bad intentions, Censorship can be incredibly dangerous. When I see certainly words being systematically excised from all types of popular entertainment, it makes me wonder what strange ideas will develop about people who lived at the turn of the century?