Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder

Here is my translation of the Repentance hymn (metrical psalm), “Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder” (Cyriacus Schneegaß, d. 1597), based on Psalm VI, Domine ne in furore, and included in Ev.-Luth. Gesangbuch #364, where it is mistakenly ascribed to Johann Hermann Schein (d. 1630), not an uncommon mistake according to Fischer, since Schein’s name is given, e.g., in Crüger’s Praxis. It first appears in Schneegaß’s Geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (1597) as “a prayer against the deep sufferings of the conscience and anguish of death because of sins, that God would graciously comfort and help. In the tone ‘Ich dank dir lieber Herre.’” Originally five stanzas, the sixth, a doxology, is a later addition. The Wisconsin hymnal appoints the melody “Herzlich thut mich verlangen,” the tune also associated with it otherwise from its use in Bach’s 1724 cantata for Trinity III (BWV 135), where the first stanza is used entire.

 

 

AH, Lord, forbear to chasten
This sinner in Thy wrath;
Thy hot displeasure lessen,
Else I must meet my death!
Have mercy, Lord, and favor,
And gracious be to me,
That I may live forever
And flee hell’s agony.

2 Dear Lord, bestow Thy healing,
For I am weak and sick,
My heart with pain is reeling,
It stings me to the quick,
My bones are vexed within me,
My fear and dread are strong,
My soul’s sore vexed within me,
But Thou, O Lord, how long?

3 Lord, bring Thy consolation,
Deliver Thou my soul,
Oh, save me in compassion,
In mercy make me whole;
In death what tongue rejoices
To name Thy memory?
In hell what gladsome voices
May give their thanks to Thee?

4 With groaning I am wearied,
I have no strength or pow’r,
In sweat my bed is buried
Throughout the nightly hour.
My couch is wet with weeping,
Mine eye with grief is old,
Upon me death is creeping
My woes are manifold.

5 Depart, ye fiends, forever!
The Lord doth help afford!
He is my very Savior,
My weeping voice He heard,
He heard my supplication;
Our common enemy
Shall fly in sore vexation,
And perish shamefully.

6 All glory be in heaven
For all eternity
To God the Father given
With God the Son most high
And God the Holy Spirit,
Whom may we ever bless,
Receiving by His merit
Eternal blessedness!

Translation © 2022 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN

Ach Herr! mich armen Sünder
straf nicht in deinem Zorn;
dein ernsten Grimm doch linder,
sonst ists mit mir verlorn.
Ach, Herr! wollst mir vergeben
mein Sünd, und gnädig sein,
daß ich mag ewig leben,
entfliehn der Höllenpein.

2 Heil du mich, lieber Herre,
denn ich bin krank und schwach,
mein herz betrübet sehre,
leidt großes Ungemach,
mein Gbeine sind erschrocken,
mir ist sehr angst und bang,
mein Seel ist auch erschrocken.
Ach, du Herr! wie so lang!

3 Herr, tröst mir mein Gemüthe,
mein Seel rett, lieber Gott,
von wegen deiner Güte,
hilf mir aus aller Noth.
Im Tod ist Alles stille,
da denkt man deiner nicht;
wer will doch in der Hölle
dir danken ewiglich?

4 Ich bin von Seufzen müde,
hab weder Kraft noch Macht,
in großem Schweiß ich liege
durch aus die ganze Nacht,
mein Lager naß von Thränen,
mein Gstalt vor Trauern alt,
zu Tod ich mich fast gräme,
die Angst ist mannigfalt.

5 Weicht all, ihr Uebelthäter,
mir ist geholfen schon!
Der Herr ist mein Erretter,
er nimmt mein Flehen an,
er hört meins Weinens Stimme;
es müssen fallen hin
all sein und meine Feinde,
und schändlich kommen um.

6 Ehr sei ins Himmels Throne
mit hohem Ruhm und Preis,
dem Vater und dem Sohne,
und auch zu gleicher Weis
dem heilgen Geist mit Ehren
in alle Ewigkeit,
der woll uns alln bescheren
die ewge Seligkeit.

Mein Jesu, was vor Seelenweh

Here is my translation of the text “Mein Jesu, was vor Seelenweh” (G. C. Schemelli or F. S. Schultze, 1736), focusing on Jesus' suffering in the garden of Gethsemane. The text is featured in Bach’s chorale (BWV 487) of the same name. The metrical form clearly follows that of Philipp Nicolai’s famous chorale melody from 1599, “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” but it was given a new sacred melody in 1736. The source for this text is the Bach Cantatas Website. The German text can be found there, as can the special music for this chorale melody—it is not well suited for congregational singing. There are good, easier options in keeping with the tragic tone of the text (Nicolai’s would perhaps not fit best that tone). In a parish setting, the melody for “O Jesu, wie ist dein Gestalt” (M. Franck, 1628; text pub. 1631) seems best suited, and indeed, that hymn, treating the Passion, may perhaps have inspired the choice of meter here.

 

MY JESUS! What deep agony
Thou bearest in Gethsemane,
What grief of soul abounding!
With mortal fear and pangs of hell,
Belial’s brooks Thy life would quell,
In sorrow Thee surrounding:
Sighing,
Crying,
Thou dost quiver
Trembling ever
Deeply riven,
Reaching forth Thy hands to heaven.

2 Thou prayest, “Father, look and see,
If Thou art willing, spare Thou Me
This agony heart-rending;
If Thou art willing, take away
This cup of cross, this torment stay,
And grant this pain an ending!
Hear My
Heart’s cry;
Yet Thy holy
Will is solely
All My pleasure.
Father, fill th’ appointed measure!”

3 Thou sweatest, Lord, great drops of blood,
Like burning coals the wrath of God
Still on Thy soul increasing;
Thou sighest in Thy misery
The angels come and strengthen Thee,
The Maker’s torments easing.
Oh, what
Is that?
What sad mourning,
What great burning,
What despairing
Must my Savior here be bearing?

4 Shall I, a wretched sinner, ask?—
My own transgression wrought this task—
This fury and affliction;
I am the one, this pain who earned—
I ought to be thus ever burned
With grief and hell’s conviction.
Shaking,
Quaking,
Sore travailing,
Hell unfailing
Flames undying
Should upon my soul be lying.

5 Most faithful God, Immanuel!
Thou loosest me from pains of hell
And all these plagues infernal.
The mighty anguish of Thy soul—
When, wrestling death, Thou paid’st my toll,—
Brings me a crown supernal!
Oh, heart,
How art
Thou rejoicing,
Leaping, voicing
Jesus’ praises,
Who thyself so highly raises.

6 Forever, Christ, be Thou adored!
My heart with thy free Spirit, Lord,
Uphold with might and wonder;
On Thy deep woe and agony
And on Thy dread Gethsemane
May I forever ponder,
Till I
Shall fly
From all sadness
To Thy gladness,
And shall meet Thee
And beyond all striving greet Thee.

Tr. © 2020 Matthew Carver.

O großer Gott von Macht

Here is my translation of the repentance hymn, “O großer Gott von Macht" (B. Schnurr, 1678, sts 1-8; J. M. Meyfart, st.9), for times of general need. This hymn, the final stanza of which Bach uses in his cantata for Trinity X, is interesting for several reasons. Its arrangement consists of six lines of original text each stanza, appealing to God’s various divine attributes for pardon and mercy to prevail over strict righteousness and to spare the people and land in the midst of some unnamed necessity; and appended to this, a two-line semi-refrain of supplication based on the progressively audacious intercessions of Abraham in Genesis 18. Note that I attempt to reproduce the rhyme scheme of the German, which perhaps unnecessarily fails to rhyme the first and third lines. But the contiguity of these lines is enhanced by the quickness of the music, so that rhymes here would be foreign to the expression. Additionally, the hymn has had several proper tunes or variant melodies over the years (Zahn 5105–5117). I include the original along with that more nearly approximating Bach's (Zahn 5105 a–b resp.). The first may be attributed to Melchior Franck (Leipzig, 1632); the second form is found in Hiller, 1798, and follows the variant originally published in Praxis Pietatis Melica (Berlin, 1661).

 

GREAT GOD of mighty pow’r,
Abounding in all grace,
Wilt Thou the land entire
In furious wrath erase?
What if there be some faithful still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy then afford us,
Not for our works reward us!

2 Great God of honor famed,
Far be it from Thee now
To beat with dread rebuke
Both good and evil brow!
What if there be some fifty still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy then afford us, &c.

3 Great God of counsel wise,
Let mercy now abound,
Let righteous judgment yield,
Nor so severe be found.
What if there forty-five be still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy then afford us, &c.

4 Great God of strength to save,
Regard the suff’ring land,
And from Thy scourges dire
Withdraw Thy reaching hand.
What if there be some forty still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy then afford us, &c.

5 Great God of boundless might,
From all Thy wrath relent,
As often to Thine ear
Our wretched pray’r is sent;
What if there be some thirty still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy yet afford us, &c.

6 Great God of grace renowned,
Oh, hear us as we cry,
And in Thy lofty throne
Perceive our lowly sigh!
What if there be some twenty still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy then afford us, &c.

7 Great God of act and deed,
Hear humble earth implore,
Which of Thy lenient heart
Would ask this one thing more:
What if there be but ten souls still
Which do according to Thy will?
Thy mercy then afford us, &c.

8 Great God of glorious praise,
Have sins their limit passed,
And wilt Thou in Thy rage
Destroy us all at last,
Yet may the little children still
Do right, according to Thy will,
Thy mercy then afford us,
Not for our works reward us!

9 Great God of faithfulness,
Since naught avails with Thee
But Christ, Thy Son, who stilled
Thy just hostility,
Behold His wounds, His anguish grim,
His pains and sorrows, and for Him
Thy mercy now afford us,
Not for our works reward us!

Translation © 2017 Matthew Carver. 

GERMAN
The German text is found here.

Jesu, nun sei gepreiset

Here is my translation of the New Year hymn “Jesu, nun sei gepreiset” (Johannes Herman, †1593). Written by a Thomaskantor of the late 16th century, it was notably used by J.S. Bach for the New Year Cantata. The appointed melody is by Melchior Vulpius (1609).

JESUS! to Thee be praises
Upon this new year’s dawn,
For all Thy loving graces
That through the year were shown
In danger, need, and sadness;
Still dost Thou deign to bless
With this new day gladness
And heav’nly blessedness.
In peace the year is ending;
We leave to Thy good tending
Ourselves both now and ever,
And pray Thee, Savior dear,
To shield us with Thy favor
Throughout the coming year! (x2)

2. May we, this year concluding,
Give glory to Thy name,
With all Thy church exuding
Fair songs to Thine acclaim.
Grant life and preservation
By Thine almighty hand,
Preserve Thy Christian nation
And save our native land!
Bestow on us Thy blessing,
Shed peace on all unceasing,
And let Thy Word salvific
In purity go forth;
Beat down the foe horrific
Both here and o’er the earth. (x2)

3. Thine only is the glory
Thine only is the praise;
Teach us to walk before Thee
Meek through the evil days;
Guide all our deeds, till, splendid
To heaven’s realm we fly
In peace and joy unblended,
To shine as saints on high;
For now make us in measure
According to Thy pleasure:
This pray’r we bring before Thee
With mouth and heart sincere
And on this day implore Thee,
Send us a blest New Year. (x2)

Translation © 2015 Matthew Carver.

GERMAN

1. Jesu, nun sei gepreiset
zu diesem neuen Jahr
für dein Güt, uns beweiset
in aller Not und Gfahr.
daß wir haben erlebet
die neu fröhliche Zeit,
die voller Gnaden schwebet
und ewger Seligkeit;
dß wir in guter Stille
das alte Jahr habn erfüllet.
Wir wolln uns dir ergeben
itzund und immerdar
behüt Leib, Seel und Leben
hinfort durchs ganze Jahr. (x2)

2. Laß uns das Jahr vollbringen
zu Lob dem Namen dein,
daß wir demselben singen
in der Christen Gemein.
Wollst uns das Leben fristen
durch dein allmächtig Hand,
erhalt dein liebe Christen
und unser Vaterland!
Dein Segen zu uns wende,
Gib Fried an allem Ende,
Gib unverfälscht im Lande
Dein seligmachend Wort,
Die Teufel mach zuschanden
Hier und an allem Ort! (x2)

3. Dein ist allein die Ehre ,
dein ist allein der Ruhm;
Geduld im Kreuz uns lehre,
regier all unser Tun,
bis wir fröhlich abscheiden
ins ewig Himmelreich,
zu wahrem Fried und Freude,
den Heilgen Gottes gleich.
Indes machs uns allen
nach deinem Wohlgefallen:
solchs singet heut ohn Scherzen
die christgläubige Schar
und wünscht mit Mund und Herzen
ein seligs neues Jahr. (x2)