"Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigk." (#7)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit,

groß ist dein Barmherzigkeit,

aller Ding ein Schöpfer und Regierer.

Eleison. :,:

Christe, aller Welt Trost,

uns Sünder allein du hast erlöst.

O Jesu, Gottes Sohn,

unser Mittler bist in dem höchsten Thron;

zu dir schreien wir aus Herzensbegier.

Eleison. :,:

Kyrie, Gott Heiliger Geist,

tröst, stärk uns im Glauben allermeist,

daß wir am letzten End

fröhlich abscheiden aus diesem Elend.

Eleison. :,:

Johann Spangenberg, 1545.

My prose translation:

Kyrie, God Father in eternity

Great is Your loving-kindness,

Of all things Creator and Ruler.

Eleison.  :,:

Christ, comfort of all the world

You alone have redeemed us sinners

O Jesus, Son of God,

You are our mediator on the highest throne;

To You we cry out of eager hearts.

Eleison. :,:

Kyrie, God Holy Ghost,

Most of all, comfort, strength us in the faith,

That at the last end, we happily leave out of this misery.

Eleison. :,:

This hymn appears as "Kyrie, God Father in Heaven Above" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#6), "Kyrie, God Father" in Lutheran Worship (#209), and "Kyrie! God, Father" in The Lutheran Service Book (#942).  Judging by how the text appears in these hymnals, the :,: indicates a repetition.  "Eleison" occurs twice in a row in each hymnal.

While translating this hymn, I ran into the word "Barmherzigkeit" again.  I'd suspected before that this is the German word for the Hebrew חֶסֶד, but I finally lookt it up and confirmed this.

Above the text in the Gesangbuch, there's a note:  "In eigener Melodie."  "In its own melody."  Here's the arrangement from The Lutheran Hymnal: