"Joy to the World! The Lord Will Come" is an adaptation of the popular Christmas carol, Joy to the World. It was included in A Collection of Sacred Hymns (Kirtland, Ohio), the first Latter Day Saint hymnal prepared for publication in 1835 and published in February 1836 as well as all English hymnals published by the LDS Church since 1948.
The textual changes typify the millennial expectation and theology of the early Latter Day Saint church. The version of the song published in the current (1985) hymnal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the Phelps text—except for the first two lines, which reflect Watts' original words.
Side-by-Side Lyrics of Phelps and Watts
The changes were made by W. W. Phelps from the original version written by Isaac Watts.
References
Joy to the World (Phelps) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA