"Wo willt du hin, weils" (#115)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Wo willt du hin, weils Abend ist,

o liebster Pilgrim Jesu Christ?

Komm, laß mich so glückselig sein

und kehr in meinem Herzen ein.

2 Laß dich erbitten, liebster Freund,

dieweil es ist so gut gemeint;

du weißt, daß du zu aller Frist

ein herzensliebster Gast mir bist.

3 Es hat der Tag sich sehr geneigt,

die Nacht sich schon von ferne zeigt,

drum wollest du, o wahres Licht,

mich Armen ja verlassen nicht.

4 Erleuchte mich, daß ich die Bahn

zum Himmel sicher finden kann,

damit die dunkle Sündennacht

mich nicht verführ noch irre macht.

Ernst Christoph Homburg, +1681.

My prose translation:

1 Where do You want to go since it is evening,

O dearest pilgrim Jesus Christ?

Come, let me be so happy

And enter into my heart.

2 Let Yourself ask, dearest friend

Because it is so well meant;

You know that at all times

You are a guest dearest to my heart.

3 The day has drawn to an end;

The night already shows itself from afar;

Therefore, You, O true Light, want

Not to leave poor me.

4 Enlighten me so that

I can surely find the way to Heaven,

So that the dark night of sin

Nor tempts me nor leads me astray.

Ernst Christoph Homburg, +1681.

The title "wahres Licht" ("true Light") in the third verse seems to be drawn from John 8:12, where Jesus calls Himself "the light of the world."

The hymn seems to sketch the same situation that's in Luke 24:13-35 (the disciples going to Emmaus).

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 "Herr Jesu Christ, meins."  Here's the arrangement from TLH:

And here are two arrangements from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch: