High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Veni, Veni, Emmanuel This favourite carol was originally written in Latin text in the 12th Century. The author of the words and composer to the music is unknown. It is, however, believed that the melody was of French origin and added to the text a hundred years later. The Latin was translated into English by John Mason Neale in 1851. The text is based on the biblical prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 that states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel (Lit.: God with us). Matthew 1:23 states fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.