Herr Jesu, Licht der Heiden,der Frommen Schatz und Lieb,wir kommen jetzt mit Freudendurch deines Geistes Triebin diesen deinen Templeund suchen mit Begiernach Simeons Exempeldich, großen Gott, allhier.Du wirst von uns gefunden,o Herr, an jedem Ort,dahin du dich verbundendurch dein Verheißungswort;vergönnt noch heutzutage,daß man dich gleicher Weisauf Glaubensarmen trage,wie dort der alte Greis.Sei unser Glanz und Wonne,ein helles Licht in Pein,im Schrecken unsre Sonne,im Kreuz ein Gnadenschein,in Zagheit Gluth und Flamme,in Noth ein Freudenstrahl,in Krankheit Arzt und Amme,ein Stern in Todesqual.Herr, laß uns auch gelingen,daß letzt, wie Simeon,ein jeder Christ kann singenden schönen Schwanenton:Wir werden nun in Friedenmein Augen zugedrückt,nachdem ich schon hieniedenden Heiland hab erblickt.Ja, ja, ich hab im Glauben,mein Jesu, dich geschaut;kein Feind kann dich mir rauben,wie heftig er auch draut.Ich wohn in deinem herzen,und in dem meinen du,uns scheiden keine Schmerzen,kein Angst, kein Tod dazu.Hier blickst du zwar zuweilenso scheel und schwül mich an,daß oft für Angst und Heulenich dich kaum kennen kann;dort aber wirds geschehen,daß ich von Angesichtzu Angesicht soll sehendein immer klares Licht.Joh. Franck, 1674.
My prose translation:
Lord Jesus, light of the nationsTreasure and love of the devout,We come now with joyThrough the impulse of Your SpiritInto this, Your templeAnd seek with desire,After Simeon's example,You, great God, here.You will be found by us,O Lord, in every placeWhere You have bound YourselfThrough Your word of promise;Grant still in these daysThat in the same wayOne carries You in the poorness of faithAs the old man there.May You be our splendor and delight,A bright light in torment,In horror, our sun,In the cross, a glow of mercy,In timidity, fervor and flame,In misery, a beam of joy,In sickness, physician and nurse,A star in the agony of death.Lord, let us also succeedThat at the last, like Simeon,Every one can sing [to?] ChristThe beautiful swansong:We will now [go] in peaceMy eyes shut,After here below I have alreadySeen the Savior.Yes, yes, I have in faithShown You, my Jesus;No enemy can take You away from me,Even as fiercely as he threatens.I live in Your heartAnd You in mine,No pains separate us,No fear, no death.Here, in fact, at times You lookAt me so askance and oppressivelyThat often for fear and weepingI can barely recognize You;There, however, it will happenThat face to faceI should seeYour ever clear light.Joh. Franck, 1674.
I couldn't figure out a way to include this in my translation, but the description "Licht der Heiden, der Frommen Schatz und Lieb" has a chiastic structure.
I'm not too confident in my translation of the last few lines of the second verse and the first few lines of the sixth.
The last two lines of the fifth verse ("uns scheiden keine Schmerzen, / kein Angst, kein Tod dazu" "No pains separate us, / No fear, no death") seem to be an echo of Romans 8:38-39: "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The description "face to face" near the end of the sixth verse may come from the first part of 1 Corinthians 13:12: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.."
As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't present in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book. According to the Gesangbuch, it's sung to the tune "Ich dank dir, lieber Herre." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's the arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch: