Nimm von uns, Herr (Repost)

Here is another repost of a hymn appropriate to this week, a hymn of repentance by Moller, based on the Wittenberg hymn Aufer immensam (1541).

http://matthaeusglyptes.blogspot.com/2009/02/nimm-von-uns-herr-du-treuer-gott.html



REMOVE FROM us, O faithful God,
Thy dreadful and avenging rod,
Which all our foul and countless crimes
Have well deserved a thousand times.
Prevent by Thy good providence
Sad famine, war, and pestilence,

2. Have mercy on Thine heirs untrue:
We pray for grace, not judgment due,
Which Thou, Lord, art full right to give
According to the way we live,
For all the earth would pass away
Nor might one man before Thee stay.

3. Oh Lord God, by Thy faithfulness
With salve and help our sighings bless,
Give us an instance of Thy grace
And turn to us Thy kindly face;
By true repentance bring us home
And save us from the wrath to come.

4. Why wilt Thou raise Thy dreadful storms
Against so vile and feeble worms?
Thou Author of our being know'st
That this our frame is filth and dust;
Our best endeavors are but frail,
If Thou dost search we greatly fail.

5. Sin still corrupts us everywhere,
And Satan lays us many a snare,
The wicked world, our flesh and blood
Conspire to rob us of all good.
O Lord, this is not hid from Thee,
Have mercy on our misery!

6. Look on Thy Son’s most bitter death,
His holy wounds, His parting breath,
For all the world these do atone
For every sin, unknown and known,
Our comfort this: Thou wilt forgive,
And for His sake let sinners live.

7. O Lord, conduct us by Thy hand,
And bless these realms by sea and land;
Preserve Thy Word amongst us pure,
Keep us from Satan’s wiles secure;
Grant us to die in peace and love,
And see Thy glorious face above.

Tr. 1, 3b-7, C.S. Terry, 1917, alt.
Tr. stanza 2, 3a © Matthew Carver, 2009.

An Wasserflüssen Babylon (Repost)

This hymn with its famous tune borrowed by "A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth," used to be sung on the 10th Sunday after Trinity and its following week, in remembrance of the destruction of Jerusalem. Valerius' Herberger's father Martin used to sing it while working. Here is my translation, a supplement to the first stanza translated by Henry Drinker.


http://matthaeusglyptes.blogspot.com/2009/11/wasserfluen-babylon.html




I N Babylon by water-streams
We sat in sorrow reeling;
As Zion filled our thoughts and dreams,
We wept with heartfelt feeling;
We hanged aloft with heavy heart
The harp and organ's goodly art,
Upon the willows mournful
That in that people's country stand;
We suffered daily at their hand 
Abuse and slander scornful.

2. There they who took us cruèlly,
And carried us to prison,
Required of us a melody,
With words of pure derision,
Demanding in our sad estate
A song of gladness to relate:
“Oh, let us hear thee render
Some merry tune. Some anthem sweet
Of Zion’s poetry repeat,
With echoes glad and tender.

3. “How can we thus, as captives long
Beset by griefs and dangers,
Sing to the Lord His rightful song
In lands where we are strangers?”
Should I forget thee, Salem mine,
May my Right Hand, my Lord divine,
Forget me, too, forever,
And should I bear thee not in mind,
May tongue to palette firmly bind,
And break its silence never,—

4. Yea, should I not, Jerusalem,
Above all joys adore thee,
As I compose thy joyful hymn
And sing it sweetly for thee.
Remember Edom’s children, Lord
When Salem fell beneath their sword
And wicked exclamation:
“Oh raze it, raze it, let it die,
Until its walls in ruins lie,
And shatter its foundation!”

5. Foul daughter thou of Babylon,
In wreck and devastation;
What blessings shall attend the one,
Who gives thee compensation
For all thy pride and villainy,
And meteth also unto thee,
As thou thyself hast meted!
Blest he who takes thine infant stock
And dasheth it against the rock,
Till thy name is depleted.

Translation  © Matthew Carver, 2009–11.

Auf diesen Tag bedenken wir (Alt, Repost, Fix)

Here I present an alteration and expansion of Miss Winkworth’s translation of the Ascension hymn “Auf diesen Tag bedenken wir” (J. Zwick, 1538), appointed for said feast in Ludecus (1589) and many other hymnals besides. I have translated the formerly lacking 3rd stanza, and heavily reworked the last to match the sense of the original more closely. This work was done in 2008. For this latest repost, I considered altering the first lines more literally thus:

This day let us in heart recall
That Christ to heav’n ascended,
And thank our God in heaven’s hall,
And pray Him to defend us

But I have left Winkworth’s words where possible, and included her original words below the German. I have also translated a missing 6th stanza, and restored the proper melody with Alleluias. (Layriz seems to have cut off the Alleluia and appointed “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr.”)



TODAY Our Lord went up on high,
And so our thanks we render:
To Him with strong desire we cry
To be our great Defender;
For we poor sinners here beneath
Are dwelling still mid woe and death.
All trust to Him we tender.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

2. Praise God that now the way is made!
In that great gate of Heaven
Hath Christ, on whom our help was laid,
A splendid passage riven,
Who knoweth this is glad at heart,
And swift prepares him to depart
Where Christ is gone before us.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

3. Who follows not, nor does His will,
Loves not the Lord, nor knows Him;
To flesh and blood the Lord may still
Bar heaven, and refuse them:
First comes true faith; if it be right,
Then will our life and walk and sight
Toward heaven be directed.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

4. Our heav’nward course begins when we,
to God the Father faring,
Are joined unto His sons, and flee
From paths of sin and erring;
For He looks down, and they look up:
They feel His love, they live in hope,
Till both shall be united.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

5. Then we this days true joy shall know
When we by God are taken,
And made like Christ, whom we below
Confess with faith unshaken,—
When bathed in joy’s eternal flood
We dwell with Him, the highest good:
May God by grace bestow it!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

6. All glory be to Christ our Lord
Who bore our condemnation
And died, and rose and life restored
And won for us salvation,
That we might not in Adam’s fall
Be lost and perish, one and all,
But very life inherit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

st. 1–2, 4–5, tr. C. Winkworth, 1858, alt.
tr. st. 3, 6 © M. Carver, 2008–2010.

GERMAN

1. Auf diesen Tag bedenken wir,
daß Christ gen Himml gefahren,
und danken Gott aus höchstr Begier,
und bittn, er woll bewahren
uns arme Sünder hie auf Erd,
die wir von wegen manchr Gefährd
ohn Hoffnung han kein Troste.
Hallelujah!

2. Drum sei Gott Lob! der weg ist gmacht,
uns steht der Himmel offen:
Christus schließt auf mit großem Pracht,
vorhin war alls verschlossen.
Wers gläubt, deß Herz ist freudenvoll,
dabei er auch sich rüsten soll,
dem Herren nachzufolgen.
Hallelujah!

3. Wer nicht folgt, noch sein’n Willen thut,
dem ists nicht ernst zum Herren:
denn er wird auch vor Fleisch und Blut
sein Himmelreich versperren:
am Glauben liegts, so der ist recht,
so wird auch gwiß das Leben schlecht
zu Gott im Himml gerichtet.
Hallelujah!

4. Solch Himmelfahrt fäht in uns an,
wenn wir den Vater funden,
und fliehen stets der Welt ih’r bahn,
thun uns zu Gottes Kindern;
die sehn hinauf und Gott herab,
an Treu und Lieb geht ihn’n nichts ab,
bis sie zusammen kommen.
Hallelujah!

5. Denn wird der Tag erst freudenreich,
wenn uns Gott zu sich nehmen,
und seinem Sohn wird machen gleich,
wie wir denn jetzt bekennen,
da wird sich finden Freud’ und Muth
in Ewigkeit beim höchsten Gut:
Gott helf, daß wir’s erlangen!
Hallelujah!

6. Preis sei der Herren Jesu Christ
der für uns ist gestorben,
der für uns auferstanden ist,
und hat das Heil erworben,
daß wird nun nicht in Adams Fall
umkommen und verderben all,
sondern das Leben erben!
Hallelujah!

WINKWORTH:

1. To-day our Lord went up on high,
And so our songs we raise;
To Him with strong desire we cry
To keep us in His grace,
For we poor sinners here beneath
Are dwelling still 'mid woe and death,
All hope in Him we place.
Hallelujah.

2. Thank God that now the way is made!
The cherub-guarded door,
Through Him on whom our help was laid,
Stands open evermore;
Who knoweth this is glad at heart,
And swift prepares him to depart
Where Christ is gone before.
Hallelujah.

4. Our heavenward course begins when we
Have found our Father, God,
And join us to His sons, and flee
The paths that once we trod;
For He looks down, and they look up,
They feel His love, they live in hope,
Until they meet their Lord.
Hallelujah.

5. Then all the depths of joy that lie
In this day we shall know,
When we are made like Him on high,
Whom we confess below,
When bathed in life's eternal flood
We dwell with Him, the highest Good:
God grant us this to know!
Hallelujah.