"Christe, du Beistand deiner" (#167)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Christe, du Beistand deiner Kreuzgemeine,

eile, mit Hilf und Rettung uns erscheine;

steure den Feinden, ihre Blutgerichte

mache zu nichte.  :,:

2 Streite doch selber für uns arme Kinder,

wehre dem Teufel, seine Macht verhinder;

alles, was kämpfet wider deine Glieder,

stürze danieder.  :,:

3 Friede bei Kirch und Schulen uns beschere,

Friede zugleich der Polizei gewähre,

Friede dem Herzen, Friede dem Gewissen

gib zu genießen.  :,:

4 Also wird zeitlich deine Güt erhoben,

also wird ewig und ohn Ende loben dich,

o du Wächter deiner armen Heerde,

Himmel und Erde.  :,:

Math. Apelles v. Löwenstern, 1644.

My prose translation:

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."