Warum machet solche Schmerzen,warum machet solche Peinder von unbeschnittnem Herzendir, o liebes Jesulein,mit Beschneidung, da du dochfrei von des Gesetzes Joch;weil du einem Menschenkindezwar gleich, doch ganz ohne Sünde.Für dich darfst du dies nicht dulden,du bist ja des Bundes Herr;unsre, unsre großen Schulden,die so grausam, die so schwerauf uns liegen, daß es dichjammert herz- und inniglich,die trägst du ab, uns zu retten,die sonst nichts zu zahlen hätten.Freut, ihr Schulder, euch deswegen,ja, sei fröhlich, alle Welt,weil heut anhebt zu erlegenGottes Sohn das Lösegeld.Das Gesetz wird heut erfüllt;heut wird Gottes Zorn gestillt;heut macht uns, so sollten sterben,Gottes Sohn zu Gottes Ergen.Wer mag recht die Gnad erkennen?Wer mag dafür dankbar sein?Herz und Mund soll stets dich nennenunsern Heiland, Jesulein.Deine Güte wollen wirnach Vermögen preisen hier,weil wir in der Schwachheit wallen;dort soll baß dein Lob erschallen.Paul Gerhardt, 1653.
My prose translation:
Why are there such achesWhy are there such painsOf those of uncircumcised heartsFor You, o dear Jesus,With circumcision, when You[Are] free from the yoke of the law;Because You [are] truly like a child of menYet completely without sin.For Yourself, You may not tolerate thisYou are indeed Lord of the bond;Our, our great faults,That so awful, that so heavilyLie on us, so that itGrieves You sincerely and ferventlyThat You take [them] away to save us,Who otherwise would have nothing to pay.Therefore, rejoice, you debtors;Yes, be cheerful, all the worldBecause to-day God's SonIs raised to die as ransom.The law will be fulfilled to-day;God's wrath will be stilled to-day;To-day God's Son makes us,Who should have died, into God's heirs.Who will recognize the mercy rightly?Who will be thankful for it?Heart and mouth should constantly call YouOur Savior, Jesus.We want to praise Your goodnessTo the best of our ability hereBecause we are pilgrims in weakness;There, Your praise should greatly resound.Paul Gerhardt, 1653.
I had some difficulties with the first verse, and I'm not very confident that my translation is accurate.
There's a great ambiguity in the lines "Herz und Mund soll stets dich nennen / unsern Heiland, Jesulein" ("Heart and mouth should constantly call You / Our Savior, Jesus") in the fourth verse. That "Jesulein" could be either a vocative or an appositive modifying "Heiland." Because both heart and mouth are mentioned, there's an echo of Romans 10:10 ("For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved"), although this may be coincidental.
I wasn't sure how to translate "wallen" in the line "weil wir in der Schwachheit wallen" in the fourth verse. Some of my dictionary's suggestions are "flow," "simmer," "bubble," and "boil," but none of those fits the context. Eventually, I translated it as "are pilgrims" ("because we are pilgrims...") primarily because that seemed to fit the context and also because I (perhaps wrongly) assumed there was at least a tenuous connection between "wallen" and "wallfahren" (to go on a pilgrimage).
As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book. According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to the tune "Freu dich sehr, o meine S." Here's the TLH arrangement: