German text in the
Gesangbuch:
Heut ist des Herren Ruhetag,
vergesset aller Sorg und Plag,
verhindert euch mit Arbeit nicht,
kommt vor des Höchsten Angesicht.
Halleluja!
Trat her und fallt auf eure Knie
vor Gottes Majestät allhie.
Es ist sein Heiligthum und Haus,
wer Sünde liebt, gehört hinaus.
Halleluja!
Ganz unerträglich ist sein Grimm,
doch hört er gern der Armen Stimm;
deswegen lobt ihn allesamt,
das ist der Christen rechtes Amt.
Halleluja!
Rühmt unsers Gottes Meisterthat,
da er uns nichts erschaffen hat
den Himmel und die ganze welt,
und was dieselbe in sich hält.
Halleluja!
Und als er sie genug geziert,
hat er den Menschen drauf formirt,
und ihn nach seinem Ebenbild
mit weisheit und Verstand erfüllt.
Halleluja!
Erkennt mit dankbarem Gemüth,
wie er allein durch seine Güt
uns täglich schützet und ernährt
und manches Unglück von uns kehrt.
Halleluja!
Denkt auch, daß heut geschehen ist
die Auferstehung Jesu Christ,
dadurch die wahre freudigheit
in aller Noth uns ist bereit.
Halleluja!
Der von den Juden ward veracht,
mit Mördern schändlich umgebracht,
daß seine Lehr hält kurzen Lauf,
und mit ihm müßte hören auf.
Halleluja!
Er ist erstanden offenbar,
und hat erfreut sein kleine Schar,
die bis aus Ende ihn geliebt
und seinethalben war betrübt.
Halleluja!
Leibhaftig er sich ihnen wies,
sich sehen, hörn und fühlen ließ,
damit versichert war ihr Sinn
des Todes Macht sei nun dahin.
Halleluja!
Drum wollen wir begehn mit Fleiß
den Tag nach rechter Christen Weis;
wir wollen aufthun unsern Mund,
und danken dir von Herzensgrund.
Halleluja!
O Gott, der du den Erdenkreis
erschaffen hast zu deinem Preis,
uns auch bewahrt so manches Jahr
in vieler Trübsal und Gefahr.
Halleluja!
Hilf, daß wir alle deine Werk,
voll Weisheit, Güte, Macht und Stärk,
erkennen und je mehr und mehr
ausbreiten deines Namens Ehr.
Halleluja!
O liebster Heiland, Jesu Christ,
der du vom Tod erstanden bist,
richt unsre Herzen auf zu dir,
daß sich der Sündenschlaf verlier.
Halleluja!
Big deiner Auferstehung Kraft,
daß dieser Trost ja bei uns hast,
daß wir uns drauf verlassen fest,
wenn uns nun alle Welt verläßt.
Halleluja!
O Heilger Geist, laß uns den Wort
so hören heut und immerfort,
in uns durch deine Lehr
Glaub, Lieb und Hoffnung reichlich mehr.
Halleluja!
Erleuchte uns, du wahres Licht,
entzeuch uns deine Gnade nicht,
all unser Thun auch so regier,
daß wir Gott preisen für und für.
Halleluja!
Gott Vater, Sohn und Geist, verleih,
daß dieser Tag dir heilig sei,
wir auch die Sabbathsruh und Freud
erlangen drauf in Ewigkeit.
Halleluja!
Hannoversches Gesangb., 1646.
My prose translation:
Today is the Lord's day of rest,
Forget all worry and plague,
Do not hinder yourselves with work,
Come before the face of the Most High.
Hallelujah!
Walk here and fall on your knees
Before God's majesty here.
It is His shrine and house
Who loves sin belongs outside.
Hallelujah!
Quite unbearable is His wrath,
Yet He gladly hears the voice of the poor;
Therefore praise Him, all of you,
That is the proper duty of the Christian.
Hallelujah!
Praise the master work of our God,
That out of nothing He has made
The heavens and the whole world
And that which sustains the same.
Hallelujah!
And when He has adorned it enough,
He formed man on it,
And him after His image
Filled with wisdom and understanding.
Hallelujah!
Recognize with thankful heart
How He through His grace alone
Daily protects and supports us,
And turns aside many disasters from us.
Hallelujah!
Think also that to-day has happened
The resurrection of Jesus Christ
Through which the true joy
In all need is ready for us.
Hallelujah!
He by the Jews would be scorned,
Killed shamefully with murderers,
That His teaching would have a short course
And would have to end with Him.
Hallelujah!
He is clearly arisen
And has gladdened His little flock,
Who loved Him until the end
And was grieved for His sake.
Hallelujah!
Living, He showed Himself to them,
Let Himself be seen, heard, and felt
So that their sense was assured
The power of death may be over now.
Hallelujah!
Therefore we want to use with diligence
The day in true Christian fashion;
We want to open our mouths,
And thank You from the bottom of our hearts.
Hallelujah!
O God, You who created
The whole earth for Your praise
Preserved us also so many years
In much misery and danger.
Hallelujah!
Help that we all Your work,
Full of wisdom, grace, might, and strength
Recognize and more and more
Extend the glory of Your name.
Hallelujah!
O dear Savior, Jesus Christ,
You who from death is risen,
Set our hearts on You
That the sleep of sin is lost.
Hallelujah!
Give strength to Your resurrection,
That we indeed have this comfort with us,
That we rely on it firmly
When now all the world fails us.
Hallelujah!
O Holy Ghost, let us Your word
So hear to-day and continually
That in us through Your teaching
Faith, love, and hope be plentiful.
Hallelujah!
Enlighten us, You true Light,
Do not take Your mercy from us,
All our deeds also so govern,
That we praise God forever.
Hallelujah!
God Father, Son, and [Holy] Ghost, grant
That this day be holy to You,
[That] we also the Sabbath rest and joy
Reach afterwards in eternity.
Hallelujah!
As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't present in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book.
In the line "wie er allein durch seine Güt," it's ambiguous whether "allein" is modifying "er" or "durch seine Güt." "How He alone through his grace" or "How He through His grace alone." I went with the second reading, mostly because it echoes the explanation to the First Article of the Apostles' Creed in Luther's Small Catechism: "All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me."
I try to keep the line breaks where they are, but I had to do a bit of shuffling for "O Gott, der du den Erdenkreis / erschaffen hast zu deinem Preis." "O God, You who the whole earth / Created for Your praise" makes it sound like the earth is what did the creating. I moved some words around to get "O God, You who created / The whole earth for Your praise."
There's a nice feature in the lines "daß wir uns drauf verlassen fest, / wenn uns nun alle Welt verläßt" ("That we rely on it firmly / When now all the world fails us"). The same verb (verlassen) is in both lines, but in the first (with the reflexive pronoun "uns" and the preposition "auf"), it has the meaning "to rely on," and in the second (where the verb appears just by itself), it has the meaning "to leave," "to desert," or "to fail." That the same verb is used but with opposite meanings in these different contexts illustrates the contrast between the surety of faith and the fickleness of the world.
The lines "That in us through Your teaching / Faith, love, and hope be plentiful" refer to 1 Corinthians 13:13: "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."