es segne uns Gott und geb uns seinen Frieden. Amen.
My prose translation:
1 May God be merciful and compassionate to us
And give us His divine blessing.
2 He lets His face shine over us
So that we on earth recognize His ways.
3 God, our God, blesses us;
God blesses us and gives us His peace. Amen.
Part of the second verse refers to Numbers 6:25: "The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you."
There are no author or publication data for this text.
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 "its own tune."
And [so that] Jesus Christ as salvation and strength
Will be confessed to the heathens
And convert them to God.
2 So, God, the heathens praise You
Above all,
And the whole world [praises You], which rejoices
And sings with a great sound,
That You are judge on the earth
And do not let sin prevail;
Your Word is protection and pasture,
Which preserves all people
To go in the right path.
3 The people thank and praise You, God,
In good deeds;
The land brings forth fruit and improves;
Your word is well met.
The Father and the Son bless us;
God the Holy Ghost blesses us,
To Whom all the world does honor;
Fear Him most of all.
Now speak from the heart: Amen.
Ps. 67. Dr. M. Luther, 1524.
Part of the first verse ("sein Antlitz uns mit hellem Schein / erleucht" "With bright light His face / Shines on us") seems to be taken from Numbers 6:25: "The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you."
This hymn appears as "May God Bestow on Us His Grace" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#500) and The Lutheran Service Book (with two tunes, #823 and #824) and as "May God Embrace Us with His Grace" in Lutheran Worship (#288). In all of these, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune," although somehow it changed from "Es wollt..." to "Es wolle..." in LW and LSB. LSB also pairs it with "Elvet Banks" (#824).
I haven't gotten that far yet in recording the tunes in TLH, but here's an arrangement of the tune from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
Would act with earnestness according to God's words,
And asks after His will.
3 There was no one on the right path;
They had all walkt out;
One went after his own path
And kept lost customs.
But it does none of them any good,
Although daring completely deceived many;
Their actions should please God.
4 How long will those loaded with such trouble
Be unknowing
And for it devour my people
And feed themselves with its harm?
Their trust does not stand in god;
They do not call Him in their distress;
They want to take care of themselves.
5 Therefore, their heart is never still
And always stands in fear;
God will remain with the devout,
Those who obey in faith.
You, however, disparage the advice of the poor
And mock everything that he says,
That God is become his comfort.
6 Who should attain salvation
For Israel, for the poor, in Zion?
God will have pity on His people
And release the captives.
He will do this through His Son;
From this Jacob will have delight
And Israel will rejoice.
Ps. 14. Dr. M. Luther, 1524.
I left "wohl" out of my translation of the first verse. I often don't know quite how to translate it (translating it as "well" certainly doesn't fit this context), and its purposes here seem to be just to fill out the line and set up the rhyme for "voll."
Normally, I would translate "schauen" (in the second verse) as "look." I'd already translated "sah" as "lookt," though, so I translated "schauen" as "consider."
I had to shuffle some elements in the first two lines of the fourth verse to get a smoother English translation. I'm not sure if it's very clear, but the antecedent of "its" ("And feed themselves with its harm?") is "my people" from the previous line.
I also shuffled some elements in the first two lines of the sixth verse.
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 "its own tune." Here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
I translated "widerspricht" in the second verse as "speak against," which is somewhere in between my dictionary's suggestions of contradict and oppose. At the end of the verse, I translated "was einig dir gefällt" as "those who please You," but it's literally something more like "what few please You."
"Erwach aus deinem Schlafe" ("wake from Your sleep") in the fourth verse sort of contradicts Psalm 121:4: "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." For "treib" later in the verse, my dictionary suggested "drive," but this seemed too intense for this context, so I translated it as "guide."
For "Heiligthum" in the fifth verse, my dictionary suggested "(holy) shrine," "(sacred) relic," and "something sacred." I translated it as "sacred ones."
This hymn appears as "Preserve Thy Word, O Savior" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#264), albeit with the fourth verse omitted. As far as I can tell, it's not in Lutheran Worship or The Lutheran Service Book. The Gesangbuch notes that the text is sung to the tune "Herzlich thut mich verlang[en]." Here's the TLH arrangement:
This is the first hymn in a sub-section of "Of the Word of God and of the Christian Church": "Bei der Einweihung einer Kirche" ("At the Consecration of a Church").
German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Dreifaltig-heilig großer Gott,
schau doch von deiner Höhe,
wie hier vor dir, Herr Zebaoth,
dein armes Häuflein stehe;
merk auf das Seufzen und Gebet,
das wir von dieser heilgen Stätt
vor deinen Thron dir bringen.
2 Wir haben dieses Gotteshaus
gebauet deinem Namen,
mit dir ist es gezieret aus,
daß wir samt unserm Samen
die heilge Satzung und dein Wort
an diesem dir geweihten Ort
zur Seelen Heil anhören.
3 Der Grund ist selber Jesus Christ,
Apostel und Propheten,
ihr Wort der Pfeiler Grundvest ist,
darauf in allen Nöthen,
wie hoch die List der Feinde geht,
die Gottesstadt doch lustig steht
mir ihrem Zionsbrunnen.
4 Hier wolln wir unsre Kinderlein
dir in der Taufe schenken,
die Katechismuslehre rein
in ihre Herzen senken,
sie in des wahren Glaubens Frucht,
in deiner Furcht, in Christenzucht
als Himmelspflanzen ziehen.
5 Hier wollen wir in wahrer Reu,
auf tiefgebognen Knieen,
die Sünden berichten ohne Scheu
und hier zum Kreuze fliehen,
abbitten die blutrothe Schuld,
Vergebung suchen, Gnad und Huld
in Christi Blut und Wunden.
6 Beim heilgen Altar werden sich
die müden Seelen laben,
da unser Heiland, Jesus Christ,
uns Sünder will begaben
mit seinem wahren Leib und Blut,
in Tod gegeben uns zu gut
und uns zum Heil vergossen.
7 Hier segnet man den Ehstand ein,
man bittet für die Kranken;
dies Haus wird stets erfüllet sein
mit Loben und mit Danken;
hier wird man den Regierungsstand,
Kirch, Schulen, Häuser, Stadt und Land
dir täglich anempfehlen.
8 Herr, hebe nun zu segnen an
dies Haus, nach dir genennet,
daß es kein Feind zerstören kann,
wie hoch sein Eifer brennet.
Stör alles, was uns stören will,
laß uns in dieser Zionstill
dich sonder Ende loben.
9 Lob, Ehr und Dank und Herrlichkeit
sei dir, o Herr, gesungen,
daß bei der letzbetrübten Zeit
es uns so weit gelungen.
Gib, daß, was wir jetzt fangen an,
nicht eher Ende nehmen kann,
bis Erd und Himmel brechen.
Hans von Assig, +1694.
My prose translation:
1 Great, thrice-holy God,
Look from your height
How here before You, Lord of hosts,
Your poor crowd stands;
Pay attention to the sighing and prayer
That we from this holy place
Bring to You before Your throne.
2 We have built this house of God
For Your Name; with You is it adorned,
So that together with our offspring
We [may] hear the holy statutes and Your word
In this placed dedicated to You,
For the salvation of the soul.
3 The foundation is Jesus Christ Himself;
Apostles and prophets,
Their word is the foundation of the pillars;
On it in all distress,
However high the cunning of the foe goes,
The city of God still stands merrily
With its springs of Zion.
4 Here we want to give our little children
To You in baptism,
To sink the pure doctrine of the catechism
Into their hearts,
To draw them into the fruit of the true faith,
Into the fear of You, into Christian discipline
As plants of Heaven.
5 Here we want, in true repentance,
On deeply bent knees,
To repent our sin without timidity
And here flee to the cross,
To ask pardon for the blood-red guilt,
To seek forgiveness, mercy, and grace
In Christ's blood and wounds.
6 At the holy altar
Will the tired souls be revived,
Where our Savior, Jesus Christ,
Wants us sinners to go,
With His true body and blood,
Given in death for our good
And shed for our salvation.
7 Here one blesses marriage;
One prays for the sick;
This house will always be filled
With praise and with thanks;
Here will one
Daily commend to You
The government, church, schools, houses, city, and country.
8 Lord, rise now to bless
This house, named after You,
So that no enemy can destroy it,
However high his zeal burns.
Disrupt everything that wants to disturb us;
Let us in this calm of Zion
Praise You without end.
9 Praise, honor, and thanks and splendor
Be sung to You, O Lord,
That in the last, troubled time
It succeeds for us so widely.
Grant that what we now begin
Cannot take a sooner end
Until Earth and Heaven break.
Hans von Assig, +1694.
The line "die Sünden berichten ohne Scheu" in the fifth verse is literally something like "to tell of the sin without timidity," but based on the context, I translated "berichten" as "repent." I also supplied a possessive adjective in place of the definite article ("our sin" instead of just "the sin").
I shuffled around some elements in the last few lines of the seventh verse to get a smoother English translation.
The verb "stören" appears twice in the eighth verse, but I translated it differently, first as "disrupt" and then as "disturb." I translated "Zionstill" as "calm of Zion," but I'm not sure this is entirely accurate. I also translated "sonder" as "without" based more on the context than anything else (although it seems to be a cognate with the Dutch zonder, which means without). I couldn't find a prepositional use of the word in my dictionary.
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 "Es ist das Heil uns kommen [her]." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
1 Christ, You assistance of Your congregation of the cross,
Hurry; appear to us with help and rescue;
Drive away the enemies; their court of blood
Bring to nothing. :,:
2 Fight Yourself for us poor children still;
Defend against the devil; hinder his might;
Everything that wrestles against Your members
Plunge below. :,:
3 Bless us with peace at church and school;
Grant also peace to the police;
Peace for the heart, peace for the conscience
Give [us] to enjoy. :,:
4 Thus will Your goodness be uplifted at length;
Thus will You be praised eternally and without end,
O You watchman of Your poor flock,
By Heaven and earth. :,:
Math. Apelles v. Löwenstern, 1644.
Almost by accident, I translated "Kreuzgemeine" and "Blutgerichte" in the first verse so that they have parallel structures ("congregation of the cross" and "court of blood"), which helps to highlight their opposite natures.
This may be obvious, but I'll note it anyway: "Yourself" ("selber") in the first line of the second verse is an intensive pronoun, not a reflexive one.
I translated "zeitlich" in the fourth verse as "at length," but I'm not sure this is completely accurate. In the same verse, I flipt "loben dich... Himmel und Erde" from active to passive voice to accommodate the structure better; instead of "Thus will eternally and without end praise You... Heaven and earth" with its inverted structure and great distance between the verb and the compound subject, I have "Thus will you be praised eternally... By Heaven and earth."
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 "its own tune."
I had some troubles with the third verse. 1) I couldn't find a translation for "Lahr." I think it may mean something like teacher or doctrine, but I was sufficiently unsure just to leave it in brackets. 2) I don't understand how "Trotz" functions in the clause "Trotz, wer wills uns wehren?" It can't be a preposition because it's not followed by an object, but it seems strange to have a noun set apart by itself here. I translated the clause as "Defiance, who will resist us?" but I'm not very confident about it. I'm not sure I really understood "wer wills uns wehren" either. 3) I'm pretty sure that "stolz" in the line "darzu ihr Zung stolz offenbar / spricht..." could function as either an adverb ("proudly") or a post-positive adjective ("proud"). Since there's already an adverb in the clause ("offenbar," "plainly"), I went with the latter and translated it as "To which their proud tongue plainly / Speaks...."
This hymn appears as "O Lord, Look Down from Heaven, Behold" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#260), but as far as I can tell, it's not in Lutheran Worship or The Lutheran Service Book. In TLH, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
This is the first hymn in a new section: "Von dem Worte Gottes und der christlichen Kirche." ("Of the Word of God and of the Christian Church")
German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Ach, bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ,
weil es nun Abend worden ist,
dein göttlich Wort, das helle Licht,
laß ja bei uns auslöschen nicht.
2 In dieser letztn betrübten Zeit
verleih uns, Herr, Beständigkeit,
daß wir dein Wort und Sacrament
rein b'halten bis an unser End.
3 Herr Jesu, hilf, dein Kirch erhalt,
wir sind gar sicher, faul und kalt;
gib Glück und Heil zu deinem Wort,
damit es schall an allem Ort.
4 Erhalt uns nur bei deinem Wort
und wehr des Teufels Trug und Mord.
Gib deiner Kirchen Gnad und Huld,
Fried, Einigkeit, Muth und Geduld.
5 Ach Gott, es geht gar übel zu,
auf dieser Erd ist keine Ruh,
viel Sekten und viel Schwärmerei
auf einen Haufen kommt herbei.
6 Den stolzen Geistern wehre doch,
die sich mit G'walt erheben hoch
und bringen stets was neues her,
zu fälschen deine rechte Lehr.
7 Die Sach und Ehr, Herr Jesu Christ,
nicht unser, sondern dein ja ist;
darum, so steh du denen bei,
die sich auf dich verlassen frei.
8 Dein Wort is unsers Herzens Trutz
und deiner Kirchen wahrer Schutz;
dabei erhalt uns, lieber Herr,
daß wir nichts anders suchen mehr.
9 Gib, daß wir lebn in deinem Wort
und darauf ferner fahren fort
von hinnen aus dem Jammerthal
zu dir in deinen Himmelssal.
Dr. Nikolaus Selnecker, 1587.
Vers 3-9 späterer Zusatz.
My prose translation:
1 Oh, stay with us, Lord Jesus Christ,
Because it is now become evening;
Your divine word, the bright light,
Let it indeed not be extinguished with us.
2 In this last, troubled time,
Grant us perseverance, Lord,
So that we keep Your Word and Sacrament
Pure until our end.
3 Lord Jesus, help; preserve Your church;
We are, quite surely, rotten and cold;
Give success and well-being to Your word
So that it resounds in every place.
4 Keep us only by Your word
And defend against the deceit and murder of the devil.
Give to Your church mercy and grace,
Peace, unity, courage, and patience.
5 O God, it goes completely to no good;
On this earth is no rest;
Many sects and much fanaticism
For a swarm comes along.
6 Defend still against the proud spirits
Who lift themselves high with violence
And constantly bring something new here
To falsify Your true doctrine.
7 The matters and glory, Lord Jesus Christ,
Are not ours but indeed Yours;
Therefore, You stand with those
Who freely rely on You.
8 Your word is the defense of our heart
And the true protection of Your church;
With it, preserve us, dear Lord,
So that we no longer seek anything else.
9 Grant that we live in Your word
And continuously go further in it
From here out of the vale of tears
To You in Your hall of Heaven.
Dr. Nikolaus Selnecker, 1587.
Verses 3-9 later addition.
Alphabetically (in German), this is the first hymn in the Gesangbuch.
This hymn appears as "Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#292) and The Lutheran Service Book (#585) and as "Lord Jesus Christ, Will You Not Stay" in Lutheran Worship (#344). The versions in LW and LSB are abbreviated; I think both are verses 1-4, 6, and 8 of the above.
In all three hymnals, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's the arrangement from TLH:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
This is the first (and only) hymn in a new section: "An den Gedächtnißtagen der heiligen Apostel" ("On the Commemoration Days of the Holy Apostles")
German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Herr Jesu, aller Menschen Hort,
durch dessen heilig theures Wort
wir himmelan gelangen,
wir rühmen deine große Gnad,
die unter uns sich nicht nur hat
erst neulich angefangen.
2 Du selber hast ja vor der Zeit
im Stande deiner Niedrigkeit
das Wort uns fürgetragen,
das Wort, das unsre Seel erfreut
und prediget die Seligkeit
mit kräftigem Behagen.
3 Als aber nach vollendtem Lauf
die Zeit war, daß du himmelauf
zum Vater solltest kehren,
hast du aus hochbedachten Rath
geordnet, die an deiner Statt
dein Wort uns sollen lehren.
4 Zuerst hast du das Predigtamt
durch die Apostel insgesamt
geordnet zu verwalten,
daß, was du selber ausgestreut,
durch sie werd ferner ausgebreit
und deine Kirch erhalten.
5 O frommer Gott, wie haben sie
sich so getreulich je und je
in deinem Dienst erwiesen,
daß sie auch, was Gefahr und Noth,
noch was gebieret Schand und Tod,
sich nicht erschrecken ließen!
6 Was wird für Marter ausgedacht,
die nicht an ihnen ist vollbracht,
wenn sie dein Wort geredet!
Sie sind mit Ruthen ausgestäupt,
sie sind gesteiniget, enthäupt
und jämmerlich getödtet.
7 O Freudigkeit, o Heldenmuth!
Sie haben auch des Feuers Gluth,
und was noch mehr, erlitten
und also für dein göttlich Ehr
und für die Wahrheit deiner Lehr
bis auf das Blut gestritten.
8 So auch, da folgens nach und nach
viel hunderttausend Ungemach
der Teufel hat erwecket
den Lehrern in der Christenheit,
ja allen Christen allezeit,
hat sie doch nichts erschrecket.
9 Sie sind durch Kluft und Berg gejagt,
mit vieler Angst und Leid geplagt,
man hat sie preisgegeben
der Löwen und der Wölfe Grimm
und mit noch mehrerm Ungestüm
vertrieben aus dem Leben.
10 Doch aber hat dein theures Wort
auf solche Weise fort und fort
nur täglich zugenommen;
so ist das Wort der Seligkeit
nur desto stärker ausgebreit
und weiter fortgekommen.
11 So hat die ganze Welt erkennt,
daß du der Kirchen Regiment
selbst hast in deinen Händen,
daß weder Feuer oder Schwert
die Schäflein deiner Weid und Heerd
nicht können von dir wenden.
12 Nun, Herr, wie solches jederzeit
mit hohen Dank die Christenheit
in der Gemeine preiset,
wenn wir betrachten, wie dein Wort,
so wunderlich ist kommen fort,
das unsre Seele speiset:
13 Also ist unsre Bitt an dich,
daß du, o Herr, genädiglich
noch ferner wollest walten
bei deinem Wort mit deinem Schutz
und wider aller Feinde Trutz
die Christenheit erhalten.
14 Das Evangelium, das du
uns dieser Zeit in stiller Ruh
hast reichlich lassen hören,
laß das Vertrauen gegen dir,
sowohl die Liebe für und für
in unsern Herzen mehren.
15 Wenn aber sollte mit der Zeit
Verfolgung und Trübseligkeit
auch über uns sich finden,
so hilf, daß wir auch willig sein,
wie die Apostel insgemein,
das Kreuz zu überwinden.
16 Laß uns mit einem Heldenmuth
auch gleichfalls unser Leib und Blut
für deine Lehre wagen,
damit die Nachwelt dir zu Lob
von unsers Glaubens guter Prob
auch künftig möge sagen.
17 O Herr, laß dir befohlen sein
der Christen heilge Kirchgemein,
erhalte sie auf Erden
im Krieg und Sieg, in Leid und Freud,
bis dort die Himmelsherrlichkeit
wird offenbaret werden.
M. Joh. Chr. Arnschwanger, +1696.
My prose translation:
1 Lord Jesus, treasure of all men,
Through Whose dear, holy word
We reach heavenward,
We praise Your great mercy,
Which under us has not
Just recently begun.
2 Indeed, You Yourself before time
In the position of Your lowliness
Carried the word for us,
The word that gladdens our soul
And preaches salvation
With powerful comfort.
3 But when the course of time was completed
That You should withdraw
Heavenward to the Father,
You arranged out of highly considered counsel
That in Your stead,
Your word should teach us.
4 First, You have ordered the service of preaching
To be managed
By the apostles altogether,
That what You Yourself scattered
Will by spreader father by them
And Your church be preserved.
5 O gentle God, how have they
Shown themselves more and more
So faithfully in Your service
That they have not even let themselves by frightened
By what danger and distress
And even by what shame and death have given birth to.
6 What torture will be thought of
That is not performed on them
When they have spoken Your word!
They are [ausgestäupt] with rods;
They are stoned, beheaded,
And miserably killed.
7 O joy, O heroism!
They have also the fervor of the fire,
And what's more, have suffered,
And thus for Your divine glory
And for the truth of Your teaching
Have fought until blood.
8 So also, when following gradually,
Many hundred thousand hardships
Of the devil have stirred up
The teachers in Christendom,
Yes, all Christians always,
Yet nothing has frightened them.
9 They are chased through chasm and mountain,
Plagued with much fear and suffering;
One has given them up
To the wrath of the lions and the wolves
And with still more vehemence
Driven [them] out of life.
10 But yet Your dear word has
In such a way continually
Only daily increased;
Thus is the word of salvation
Only all the more strongly spread
And advanced further.
11 Thus has the whole world recognized
That You Yourself have
The government of the church in Your hands
So that neither fire nor sword
Can turn the lambs of Your pasture and flock
From You.
12 Now, Lord, as at every time
With high thanks, the Christendom
In the congregation praises [You]
When we consider how Your word,
So wonderful, has come continually,
[On] which our soul feeds:
13 So our prayer to You is
That You, O Lord, mercifully
Will still further be at work
By Your word with Your protection
And against the defiance of all foes
Will preserve Christendom.
14 The Gospel, which You
At this time in quiet peace
Have richly let us hear,
Let faith in You,
Along with love forever,
Increase in our hearts.
15 When, however, with time,
Persecution and wretchedness
Should also find themselves over us,
So help that we are also willing,
As the apostles altogether,
To overcome the cross.
16 Let us with bravery
Likewise also venture our body and blood
For Your teaching
So that in praise to You, posterity
May speak of the good trial of our faith
Also in the future.
17 O Lord, let the holy church congregation of Christians
Be under Your command,
Preserve it on earth
In war and victory, in suffering and joy,
Until the splendor of Heaven
Will be revealed there.
M. Joh. Chr. Arnschwanger, +1696.
I'm not sure I completely understood the last couple lines of the first verse.
I rearranged some elements in the third through fifth verses to get smoother English translations. I translated "ausgestreut" in the fourth verse as "scattered," partially because it recalls the imagery of the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9, Mark 4:3-8, and Luke 8:5-8). I couldn't find "gebieret" (in the fifth verse) in my German dictionary. I translated it as "have given birth to" based on internet research, and so I'm not too confident in it.
I couldn't find a translation for "ausgestäupt" in the sixth verse, either, not even with internet research.
The phrase "des Feuers Gluth" in the seventh verse could be the more prosaic "the glow of the fire" or the more figurative "the fervor of the fire," which is what I went with.
I had to move around some elements in the eleventh verse to get a smoother English translation. I also flipt "either fire or sword... can not" to "neither fire nor sword / Can."
I also had to rearrange some elements in the seventeenth verse.
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 "Kommt her zu mir, spricht." Here's an arrangement from TLH (transposed from F minor to G minor):
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
I had to shuffle some elements throughout the whole hymn to accommodate the very short lines.
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 "its own tune."
For "entzwei" (in the third verse), my dictionary suggests "broken" and "torn." Neither of those really fits the context of a rope, though, so I translated it as "cut."
This hymn appears as "If God Had Not Been on Our Side" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#267), but as far as I can tell, it's not in Lutheran Worship or The Lutheran Service Book. In TLH, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
dein göttlich Wort ist lang verdunkelt blieben, bis durch dein Gnad
ist uns gesagt, was Paulus hat geschrieben und andere
Apostel mehr aus deim göttlichen Munde, des danken wir
mit Fleiß, daß wir erlebet han die Stunde.
2 Daß es mit Macht
an Tag ist bracht, wie klärlich ist für Augen. Ach Gott, mein Herr,
erbarm dich der, die dich noch jetzt verleugnen und achten sehr
auf Menschenlehr, darin sie doch verderben; deins Worts Verstand
mach ihn'n bekannt, daß sie nicht ewig sterben.
3 Willst du nun fein
gut Christe sein, so mußt du erstlich glauben: Setz dein Vertrau,
darauf fest bau, Hoffnung und Lieb im Glauben allein durch Christ
zu aller Frist, dein Nächsten lieb daneben, das G'wissen frei,
rein Herz dabei, das kein Kreatur kann geben.
4 Allein, Herr, du
mußt solches thun doch gar aus lautern Gnaden; wer sich des tröst,
der ist erlöst und kann ihm niemand schaden. Ob wollten gleich
Pabst, Kaiser, Reich sie und dein Wort vertreiben, ist doch ihr Macht
gen dir nichts g'acht, sie werdns wohl lassen bleiben.
5 Hilf, Herre Gott,
in dieser Noth, daß sich die auch bekehren, die nichts betrachtn,
dein Wort verachtn und wollens auch nicht lehren. Sie sprechen schlecht,
es sei nicht recht, und habens nie gelesen, auch nicht gehört
das edle Wort. Ists nicht ein teuflisch Wesen?
6 Ich glaub g'wiß gar,
daß es sei wahr, was Paulus uns thut schreiben: Es muß geschehn,
daß alls vergeh, dein göttlich Wort soll bleiben in Ewigkeit,
wär es auch leid viel hart verstockten Herzen, kehrn sich nicht um,
werden sie drum leiden gar großen Schmerzen.
7 Gott ist mein Herr,
so bin ich der, dem Sterben kommt zu gute, dadurch uns hast
aus aller Last erlöst mit deinem Blute. Das dank ich dir,
drum wirst du mir nach deinr Verheißung geben, was ich dich bitt,
versag mir ni[ch]t im Tod und auch im Leben.
8 Herr, ich hoff je,
du werdest die in keiner Noth verlassen, die dein Wort recht
als treue Knecht im Herzn und Glauben fassen; gibst ihn'n bereit
die Seligkeit und läßt sie nicht verderben. O Herr, durch dich
bitt ich, laß mich fröhlich und willig sterben.
A. H. Z. W., 1527 (Nach C. Spangenberg: Paul Speratus.)
My prose translation:
1 O Lord God,
Your divine word Has long remained darkened Until by Your mercy
It was said to us What Paul has written And other
Apostles, too Out of Your divine mouth; Therefore, we thank [You]
With diligence that we Have experienced the hour.
2 That it is brought
By day with might, As clearly [as it] is for eyes. O God, my Lord,
Have mercy on those Who even now deny You And pay much attention
To teachings of men, In which they indeed perish; Make known to them
The sense of Your word So that they do not eternally die.
3 [If] you now want to be a fine,
Good Christian, Then you must first believe: Place your trust;
On it firmly build Hope and love in faith Through Christ alone
At all times; In addition, love your neighbor; The conscience free,
A pure heart with it, No creature can give that.
4 Alone, Lord, You
Must do such, Completely out of pure mercy; He who comforts himself with it
Is redeemed, And no one can harm him. Whether alike
Pope, emperor, kingdom wanted
To drive it and Your word away, Yet their might
Is nothing against You; They will well let [them] remain.
5 Help, Lord God,
In this need That those also are converted Who consider nothing,
Despise Your word, And also do not want to learn it. They speak badly,
It would not be right, And have never read it, Not even heard
The precious word. Is it not a devilish being?
6 I certainly completely believe
That it is true What Paul has written us: It must come about
That everything passes away; Your divine word should remain In eternity;
Hard, impenitent hearts Would also suffer much, Not turn back;
Therefore they will Suffer very great pains.
7 God is my Lord,
So I am he For whom dying comes to good, Through which You have
Redeemed us With Your blood out of all burdens. For this, I thank You;
Therefore You will According to Your promise, give me What I ask You for;
Do not deny me In death and also in life.
8 Lord, I ever hope
You will Not leave in distress those Who rightly grasp
Your word In heart and faith as faithful servants; [You] give them
Salvation already And do not leave them to perish. O Lord, through You
I ask: Let me die cheerfully and willingly.
A. H. Z. W., 1527 (After C. Spangenberg: Paul Speratus.)
I translated "mehr" in the first verse ("und andere / Apostel mehr") as "too" ("and other / Apostles, too"). Usually, I would translate it as "more," but that didn't seem to fit with its placement or context ("and other apostles more" and "more other apostles" sound odd).
The antecedent of "sie" in the line "sie und dein Wort vertreiben" ("To drive it and Your word away") in the fourth verse is unclear. My best guess is "Gnaden" ("mercy") from the second line.
Part of the sixth verse refers to "the word of the Lord remains forever" in 1 Peter 1:25.
I had to shuffle some elements in the sixth through eighth verses to get smoother English translations.
This hymn appears as "O God, Our Lord, Thy Holy Word" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#266) and as "O God, Our Lord, Your Holy Word" in Lutheran Worship (#341). As far as I can tell, it's not in The Lutheran Service Book. In both TLH and LW, the hymn appears in an abbreviated form; I believe it's verses 1, 3, 4, and 7. In both, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the hymn is sung to "its own tune." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
3 In the evening meal, the body and blood of Christ
Is used, given with bread and wine;
[It] comes to our good,
Strengthens us for eternal life;
Afterwards, it is called a sacrifice;
The host they carry away;
The holy blood in the Sacrament
They deny to the laymen.
4 The works that one has ordered there
Have made up their own joke;
The superstition became altogether
Bound most severely;
But that which You have offered
Was not to know misery,
When one otherwise
Was only keen
To carry the burden of man.
5 To attain this
Has been the main trick:
One has not been allowed to read
The Scripture, which indeed is the guiding principle;
So most people then
Came to utter carelessness;
They did not know the difference
[Between] the truth and the lies.
6 Based on them, one has fabricated much
For the church service according to his own sense;
By the same [he has] also directed much
Merely to profit and hypocrasy.
The divine word lay hidden;
One could rarely hear it;
All day, the rubbish of men
Must increase with crowds.
7 And when one has carried
The heavy yoke for a long time,
Still one remained in doubt
And could say to no one
Whether he had done enough with it
To earn Heaven,
And when the last plight started,
He must die in doubt.
8 To You, Lord, be eternal praise and glory
That we have come to the truth
And that through pure teaching
You have taken the blindness away.
We know that whoever trusts in Christ
Will [have] eternal life;
When he looks at Him in faith,
His sin is forgiven.
9 He does, then, by the mercy of the Most High
And the strength of the Spirit
What God has commanded [him] to do,
As true good works.
So that in peace, patience, and joy,
In chastity, humility, love,
Goodness, gentleness, and modesty
Without hypocrasy, he trains himself.
10 The mouth of the Lord says so much to us;
We must stick to it;
We do not let even an angel
Drive us from this ground,
And the great good
That God has shown to us
Will always be recognized and highly praised
By us with a thankful heart.
11 O Lord, in mercy reclaim
Those who still go astray
And those who mightily pilot and defend
Those who resist You, God.
Allow that no one can hinder
Your word and its course;
Maintain it pure continually
For us and also for our children.
Dr. Justus Gesenius, +1671.
I shuffled some elements in the first verse to get a smoother English translation, but there are parts that I'm unsure about, chiefly "sie," which I reluctantly translated as an indefinite "they." The last line may refer to Matthew 7:24-27, where Jesus explains that the one who hears His words and does them is like a man who built his house on a rock.
I'm not sure I translated (or even understood) the second or third verses correctly.
I flipt two lines in the fifth verse so that it's a bit easier to understand ("One has not been allowed to read / The Scripture..." instead of the inverted "The Scripture... one has not been allowed to read"). The only translation I could find for "leichtlich" was "easy," but that didn't really fit this context. I translated it as "carelessness."
I'm not sure if I have the line breaks in the right places in the second half of the ninth verse.
I also had to shuffle some elements in the tenth and eleventh verses to get smoother English translations. Part of the eleventh verse may refer to Isaiah 55:11: "'so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.'"
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 "Durch Adams Fall ist ganz." Here are two arrangements from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
Additional verses 4 and 5 by Dr. Justus Jonas, 1544.
I had to shuffle some elements in the first verse to get a smoother English translation. I should note that "des Pabsts und Türken Mord" ("the murder of the Pope and Turks") seems to be a partitive genitive, not an objective genitive.
The second half of the fourth verse may be based on Psalm 7:15 (or other, similar passages): "He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made."
This hymn (the first three verses only) appears as "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#261) and as "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word" in Lutheran Worship (#334) and The Lutheran Service Book (#655). In all, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
This is the first hymn in a new section: "Lieder am Reformations-Fest. (Am 31. October.)" "Songs for the Feast of the Reformation (on 31 October)"
German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott,
ein gute Wehr und Waffen;
er hilft uns frei aus aller Noth,
die uns jetzt hat betroffen.
Der alt böse Feind,
mit Ernst ers jetzt meint,
groß Macht und viel List
sein grausam Rüstung ist,
auf Erd ist nichts seins Gleichen.
2 Mit unser Macht ist nichts gethan,
wir sind gar bald verloren;
es streit für uns der rechte Mann,
den Gott selbst erkoren.
Fragst du, wer der ist?
Er heißt Jesus Christ,
der Herr Zeboath,
und ist kein ander Gott,
das Feld muß er behalten.
3 Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär
und wollt uns gar verschlingen,
so fürchten wir uns nicht so sehr,
es soll uns doch gelingen.
Der Fürst dieser Welt,
wie saur er sich stellt,
thut er uns doch nicht,
das macht, er ist gericht,
ein Wörtlein kann ihn fällen.
4 Das Wort sie sollen lassen stan
und kein Dank dazu haben;
er ist bei uns wohl auf dem Plan
mit seinem Geist und Gaben.
Nehmen sie den Leib,
Gut, Ehr, Kind und Weib;
laß fahren dahin,
sie habens kein Gewinn,
das Reich muß uns doch bleiben.
Ps. 46. Dr. M. Luther, 1529.
My prose translation:
1 A sturdy fortress is our God,
A good defense and weapon;
He helps us free out of all distress,
Which has now befallen us.
The old evil foe,
He now means it with earnestness;
Great might and much cunning
Are his cruel armaments;
On earth, nothing is like he.
2 With our might is nothing done;
We are very soon lost;
For us fights the right Man,
Whom God Himself chose.
Ask you Who He is?
He is called Jesus Christ,
The Lord of hosts,
And there is no other God;
He must hold the field.
3 And if the world were full of devils
And wanted to devour us completely,
We would not fear so much;
We would still succeed.
The prince of this world,
As sour as he sets himself,
Does nothing to us at all
It's done; he is judged;
A little word can fell him.
4 They should let the Word stand
And have no thanks for it;
He is with us on the plain
With His Spirit and gifts.
[If] they take our body,
Goods, honor, child, and wife:
Let [them] go;
They have no profit for it;
The kingdom must still remain ours.
Ps. 46. Dr. M. Luther, 1529.
The structure and context of part of the second verse recalls Psalm 24:8: "Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!" "Wer ist der König der Ehre? Es ist der HERR, stark und mächtig, der HERR, mächtig im Streit."
This hymn appears as "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#262), Lutheran Worship (#297 and #298), and The Lutheran Service Book (#656 and #657). In all of these, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own melody." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
The lines "wir danken dir, daß deine Treu / bei uns ist alle Morgen neu" ("We thank You that Your faithfulness / With us is new every morning" seem to come from Lamentations 3:23: "They [the LORD's mercies] are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I rearranged much of the second verse to get a smoother English translation. The second half of the verse is drawn from Psalm 91:12: "daß sie dich auf den Händen tragen und du deinen Fuß nicht an einen Stein stoßest." "On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."
The first part of the third verse seems to be patterned on Psalm 8:4: "what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" In the German Psalter, though, it's Psalm 8:5: "was ist der Mensch, daß du seiner gedenkst, und des Menschen Kind, daß du dich seiner annimmst?"
I'm not sure I really understood the fifth verse.
Part of the eighth verse may refer to Psalm 34:7: "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."
I had to shuffle around some elements within the seventh through ninth verses (and to a lesser degree also in the tenth) to get smoother English translation, but I'm not sure I understood how "der ganzen Welt" ("the whole world") fits into the sense of the seventh verse.
Part of the tenth verse refers to Luke 16:22: "'The poor man [Lazarus] died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.'" The "Holy! Holy! Holy!" in the same verse could come from either Isaiah 6:3 or Revelation 4:8.
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 "Nun freut euch, lieben Chr[isten g'mein]." Here's the TLH arrangement:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
5 And as he previously brought the world into distress,
He leads it still into death;
He is always ready to destroy
Church, Word, law, [and] all respectability.
6 Therefore he has neither rest nor calm,
Roars like a lion, pursues early and late,
Lays traps and ropes, needs false cunning
So that he spoils what is Christ-like.
7 Meanwhile, the company of angels keeps watch,
Which follows Christ always,
And protects Your Christendom
[And] resists the cunning of the devil.
8 We learn that from Daniel,
When he sat among the lions,
Like also from pious Lot
[Who] the angel helpt out of all distress.
9 Such that even the heat of the fire
Is spared and does no harm
To the boys in the hot flames;
The angel came to help them.
10 So God protects us still to-day by day
From the evil one and from many plagues
By the dear angels,
Who are given to us as guards.
11 Therefore we properly praise You
And eternally thank You, God,
As also the company of the dear angels
Praises You to-day and always.
12 And to ask You [that You would] always want
To be ready to call the same
To protect Your small flock
[And] so keep Your divine word in value.
Dr. Paul Eberus, 1566.
After the Latin of Ph. Melanchthon.
I moved around a few elements in the fifth verse to get a smoother English translation.
The description "brüllt wie ein Löw" in the sixth verse seems to come from part of 1 Peter 5:8: "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." The same words are used in my German New Testament: "denn euer Widersacher, der Teufel, geht umher wie ein brüllender Löwe und sucht, wen er verschlinge."
Also in the sixth verse, the word spät (late) is purposely misspelled ("spat") so that it rhymes with "hat" from the previous line.
This hymn appears as "Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#254) as "Lord God, to You We All Give Praise" in Lutheran Worship (#189), and as "Lord God, to Thee We Give All Praise" in The Lutheran Service Book (#522). In all, the hymn is abbreviated from the above form: TLH has verses 1-7 and 11; LW has verses 1-3 and 11; LSB has verses 1-7 and 11.
According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to "its own tune." Here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:
TLH pairs the text with "Old Hundredth," which is very similar to "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir," but LW pairs it with "Komm, Gott Schöpfer," and LSB pairs it with "Erhalt uns, Herr."
This is the first hymn in a new section: "Lieder am Michaelis-Fest. (Am 29. September.)" "Songs for the Feast of Michael (On 29 September)"
German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Aus Lieb läßt Gott der Christenheit
viel Gutes widerfahren,
aus Lieb hat er ihr zubereit
viel tausend Engelscharen,
darum man fröhlich singen mag:
Heut ist der lieben Engel Tag,
die uns gar wohl bewahren.
2 Sie lagern sich, wenn kommt die Noth,
in Eil gefaßt sich machen
und reißen die, so fürchten Gott,
aus ihrer Feinde Rachen,
darum man fröhlich singen mag:
Heut ist der lieben Engel Tag,
die immer für uns wachen.
3 Sie führen auf den Straßen wohl
die Großen samt den Kleinen,
daß keiner Schaden leiden soll
an Füßen oder Beinen,
darum man fröhlich singen mag:
Heut ist der lieben Engel Tag,
die uns mit Treuen meinen.
Dr. G. Reimann, +1615.
My prose translation:
1 Out of love, God lets
Much good happen to Christendom;
Out of love He has prepared for it
Many thousand companies of angels;
Therefore one may sing cheerfully:
To-day is the day of the dear angels,
Who protect us very well.
2 They position themselves when distress comes,
Prepare themselves in a hurry
And snatch those who fear God
Out of the revenge of their enemies;
Therefore one may sing cheerfully:
To-day is the day of the dear angels,
Who always keep watch for us.
3 They lead well on the streets
The great along with the small,
So that no one should suffer injury
To foot or leg;
Therefore one may sing cheerfully:
To-day is the day of the dear angels,
Who regard us with faithfulness.
Dr. G. Reimann, +1615.
The lines "daß keiner Schaden leiden soll / an Füßen oder Beinen" ("So that no one should suffer injury / To foot or leg") in the third verse seem to refer to Psalm 91:11-12: "11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." The phrase "Füßen oder Beinen" contains plurals ("Feet or legs"), but I translated them as singulars.
I translated "meinen" in the same verse as "regard" based more on the context than anything else. In other circumstances, I would translate it as mean or think, but those didn't seem to fit here.
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 "its own tune."