"Verleih uns Frieden" (#177)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich,

Herr Gott, zu unsern Zeiten.

Es ist doch ja kein ander nicht,

der für uns könnte streiten,

denn du, unser Gott, alleine.

Gib unserm Land und aller Obrigkeit

Fried und gut Regiment,

daß wir unter ihnen ein christlich,

ehrbar, geruhig Leben führen mögen

in aller Gottseligkeit und Wahrheit.  Amen.

Latein.  Antiphone, verdeutscht durch Dr. M. Luther, 1529.

Vers 2 Zusatz von einem Unbekannten, 1573.

My prose translation:

Mercifully grant us peace,

Lord God, in our time.

There is indeed no other

Who can fight for us

Than You, our God, alone.

Give to our country and to all authorities

Peace and good government

So that under them, we a Christ-like,

Honorable, quiet life may lead

In all blessedness of God and truth.  Amen.

Latin antiphon translated into German by Dr. M. Luther, 1529.

Verse 2 the addition of an unknown, 1573.

There are no verse numbers preceding the stanzas as there are in the other Gesangbuch texts, but the inscription at the bottom makes it clear that there are two distinct verses.

The first four lines of the first verse rhyme in an ABAB pattern, but the fifth line stands by itself.  Such a structure mirrors the uniqueness of "our God, alone."

I'm not sure I have the line breaks in the right places in the second verse.  The syllable counts don't seem to match those in the first verse, so I couldn't even use those as a guide.

As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't in The Lutheran Hymnal, but the first verse appears as "Grant Peace, We Pray, in Mercy, Lord" in Lutheran Worship (#219) and The Lutheran Service Book (with two tunes:  #777 and #778).  The Gesangbuch notes that the text is sung to "its own tune," and this is what it's paired with for LW #219 and LSB #778.  LSB #777 is sung to the tune "Mendelssohn da pacem."  Here are two arrangements of "Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich" from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch, although in writing this post, I discovered that I misspelled the title.

"Rett, o Herr Jesu, rett" (#176)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Rett, o Herr Jesu, rett dein Ehr,

das Seufzen deiner Kirche hör,

der Feind Anschläg und Macht zerstör,

die jetzt verfolgen deine Lehr.

2 Groß ist ihr List, ihr Trutz und Macht,

sie fahren hoch daher mit Pracht,

all unser Hoffnung wird verlacht,

wie sind bei ihn'n wie nichts geacht.

3 Vergib uns unsre Missethat,

vertilg uns nicht, erzeige Gnad.

Beweis den Feinden in der That,

es gelte wider dich kein Rath.

4 Steh deinem kleinen Häuflein bei,

aus Gnaden Fried und Ruh verleih;

laß jedermann erkennen frei,

daß hier die rechte Kirche sei.

5 Laß sehn, daß du seist unser Gott,

der unser Feinde setzt zu Spott,

wirst ihre Hoffart in den Koth

und hilft den Seinen aus der Noth.

Johann Heermann, 1630.

My prose translation:

1 Save, O Lord Jesus, save Your honor;

Hear the sighing of Your church;

Destroy the attacks and might of the enemy,

Which now persecute Your doctrine.

2 Great are their cunning, their defiance and might;

They go high from here with splendor;

All of our hope is laughed at;

With them, we are considered as nothing.

3 Forgive us our misdeeds;

Do not destroy us; show mercy.

Prove to the enemy in the act

That no counsel is effective against You.

4 Stand with Your little flock;

Out of mercy, grant peace and quiet;

Let everyone recognize freely

That here is the true church.

5 Let it be seen that You are our God,

Who puts our enemies to shame,

Will [cast] their pride in the muck,

And helps His [own] out of distress.

Johann Heermann, 1630.

In the line "Groß ist ihr List, ihr Trutz und Macht" in the second verse, there's a plural subject ("ihr List, ihr Trutz und Macht" "their cunning, their defiance and might") but a singular verb ("ist" "is").  I changed it to a plural verb ("are") in my translation.

"Häuflein" in the fourth verse is literally something like "little crowd."  This didn't seem to fit the context very well, so I translated it as "flock" and omitted the diminutive since it's already modified by "kleinen."

I don't know why "sei" in the last line of the fourth verse and "seist" in the first line of the fifth are subjective; I translated both as indicatives ("is" and "are," respectively).

I had to supply a complementary infinitive in the third line of the fifth verse.  The original text is just "Will their pride in the muck."

This hymn appears as "Thine Honor Save, O Christ, Our Lord" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#265), albeit with verses four and five flipped.  As far as I can tell, it's not in Lutheran Worship or The Lutheran Service Book.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that in the TLH version, translated by Matthias Loy, "deinem kleinen Häuflein" is rendered as "Thy little flock," which is essentially how I did it, too.

In TLH, and as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to the tune "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei d[einem Wort]."  Here's the TLH arrangement (transposed from E minor to G minor):

And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:

"O Jesu Christe wahres" (#175)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 O Jesu Christe, wahres Licht,

erleuchte, die dich kennen nicht,

und bringe sie zu deiner Heerd,

daß ihre Seel auch selig werd.

2 Erfüll mit deinem Gnadenschein,

die in Irrthum verführet sein,

auch die, so heimlich sichtet an

in ihrem Sinn ein flascher Wahn.

3 Und was sich sonst verlaufen hat

vor dir, das suche du mit Gnad

und sein verwundt Gewissen heil,

laß sie am Himmel haben Theil.

4 Den Tauben öffne das Gehör,

die Stummen richtig reden lehr,

die nicht bekennen wollen frei,

was ihres Herzens Glaube sei.

5 Erleuchte, die da sind verblendt,

bring her, die sich von uns getrennet,

versammle, die zerstreuet gehn,

mach feste, die im Zweifel stehn.

6 So werden sie mit uns zugleich

auf Erden und im Himmelreich,

hie zeitlich und dort ewiglich

für solche Gnade preisen dich.

Johann Heermann, 1630.

My prose translation:

1 O Jesus Christ, true Light,

Enlighten those who do not know You

And bring them to Your flock

So that their soul would also be blessed.

2 Fulfill with Your light of mercy

Those who are tempted in misunderstanding

Also those who so secretly look at

A false delusion in their mind.

3 And those who have otherwise lost their way

From You, whom You search for with mercy

And heal their wounded consciences,

Let them have a part in Heaven.

4 Open the ears of the deaf;

Teach the mute to speak rightly;

Those who do not confess want to be free,

Whatever the faith of their hearts would be.

5 Enlighten those who are blinded;

Bring here those separated from us;

Collect those who go astray;

Make firm those who stand in doubt.

6 So will they with us

Both on earth and in Heaven,

Here temporally and there eternally

Praise You for such mercy.

Johann Heermann, 1630.

There's an inconsistency in the third verse in that "sich... verlaufen hat" ("has lost his way") has a singular subject and "sein verwundt Gewissen" ("his wounded conscience") has a singular possessive pronoun but later there's the plural "sie" ("them") with apparently the same antecedent.  I made them all plurals in my translation.

I'm not sure I really understood the sense of the second half of the fourth 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 "Herr Jesu Christ, meins."  Here's the TLH arrangement (transposed from Bb major to C major):

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

"Laß mich dein sein und bl." (#174)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Laß mich dein sein und bleiben,

du treuer Gott und Herr;

von dir laß mich nichts treiben,

halt mich bei reiner Lehr.

Herr, laß mich nur nicht wanken,

gib mir Beständigkeit,

dafür will ich dir danken

in alle Ewigkeit.

2 Herr Jesu Christ, mein Leben,

mein Heil und einger Trost,

dir thu ich mich ergeben

du hast mich theur erlöst

mit deinem Blutvergießen,

mit großem Weh und Leid,

laß mich des auch genießen

zu meiner Seligkeit.

3 O Heilger Geist, mein Tröster,

mein Licht und theures Pfand,

laß mich Christ, mein'n Erlöser,

den ich im Glaubn erkannt,

bis an mein End bekennen,

stärk mich in letzter Noth,

von dir laß mich nichts trennen,

gib einen selgen Tod.

Dr. Nikolaus Selnecker, 1587.

V. 2 u. 3 Zusatz eines Unbekannten.

My prose translation:

1 Let me be and remain Yours,

You faithful God and Lord;

Let nothing drive me from You;

Keep me in pure teaching.

Lord, only let me not waver;

Give me steadfastness;

For it, I will thank You

In all eternity.

2 Lord Jesus Christ, my life,

My salvation, and only comfort,

To You do I yield myself;

You have dearly redeemed me

By the shedding of Your blood,

With great pain and suffering;

Let me also enjoy it

For my blessedness.

3 O Holy Ghost, my Comforter,

My Light and dear Security,

Let me confess Christ, my Redeemer,

Whom I recognize in faith,

Until my end;

Strengthen me in my last distress;

Let nothing separate me from You;

Grant a blessed death.

Dr. Nikolaus Selnecker, 1587.

Verses 2 and 3 the addition of an unknown

This is probably splitting hairs, but:  "mit deinem Blutvergießen" in the second verse is "By Your shedding of blood," but in my translation, I shuffled this around a bit to get "By the shedding of Your blood."

This hymn appears as "Let Me Be Thine Forever" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#334) and The Lutheran Service Book (#689) and as "Let Me Be Yours Forever" in Lutheran Worship (#257).  In TLH, as the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to the tune "Ich dank dir, lieber Herre."  LW and LSB have the same tune as TLH (LSB has nearly the same arrangement, even), but both call it "Lob Gott getrost mit Singen."  In any case, here's the TLH arrangement:

And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch: