Sunday, December 8, 2024

"Es spricht der Unweisen M." (#170)

German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl:
den rechten Gott wir meinen;
doch ist ihr Herz Unglaubens voll,
mit That sie ihn verneinen.
Ihr Wesen ist verderbet zwar,
für Gott ist es ein Greuel gar,
es thut ihr keiner kein gut.

2 Gott selbst vom Himmel sah herab
auf aller Menschen Kinden;
zu schauen sie, er sich begab,
ob er jemand würd finden,
der sein Verstand gerichtet hätt,
mit Ernst nach Gottes Worten thät
und fragt nach seinem Willen.

3 Da war niemand auf rechter Bahn,
sie warn all ausgeschritten;
ein jeder ging nach seinem Bahn
und hielt verlorne Sitten.
Es thät ihr keiner doch kein gut,
wiewohl gar viel betrog der Muth,
ihr Thun sollt Gott gefallen.

4 Wie lang wollen unwissen sein,
die solche Müh aufladen,
und fressen dafür das Volk mein
und nährn sich mit seim Schaden?
Es steht ihr Trauen nicht auf Gott,
sie rufen ihm nicht in der Noth,
sie wolln sich selbst versorgen.

5 Darum ist ihr Herz nimmer still
und steht allzeit in Furchten;
Gott bei den Frommen bleiben will,
dem sie mit Glauben g'horchen.
Ihr aber schmäht des Armen Rath
und höhnet alles, was er sagt,
daß Gott sein Trost ist worden.

6 Wer soll Israel, dem armen,
zu Zion Heil erlangen?
Gott wird sich seins Volks erbarmen
und lösen die Gefangen.
Das wird er thun durch seinen Sohn,
davon wird Jakob Wonne han
und Israel sich freuen.

Ps. 14. Dr. M. Luther, 1524.
My prose translation:
1 The mouth of the unwise speaks:
We refer to the true God;
Yet their heart is full of unbelief;
With deeds, they deny Him.
But their being is corrupted;
For God, it is an absolute horror;
It does no one any good.

2 God Himself lookt down from heaven
On all the children of men;
He proceeded to consider them,
Whether He would find someone
Who had directed his mind,
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: