German text in the Gesangbuch:
1 So wahr ich leb, spricht Gott, der Herr,des Sünders Tod ich nicht begehr,sondern daß er bekehre sich,thu Buß und lebe ewiglich.2 Drum Christ, der Herr, sein Jünger sandt.Geht hin, predigt in allem LandVergebung der Sünd jedermann,dems leid ist, glaubt und will ablan.3 Wem ihr die Sünd vergeben werdt,soll ihr los sein auf dieser Erd;wem ihr sie b'halt im Namen mein,dem sollen sie behalten sein.4 Was ihr bindt, soll gebunden sein;was ihr auflöst, das soll los sein;die Schlüssel zu dem Himmelreichhiemit ich euch geb allen gleich.5 Wem ihr verkündigt diesen Trost,daß er durch mein Blut sei erlöst,b'hält dies Zeugniß im Herzen sein,derselb ist los von Schuld und Pein.6 Wann uns der Priester absolvirt,sein Amt der Herr Christ durch ihn führtund spricht uns selbst von Sünden rein,sein Werkzeug ist der Dienr allein.7 Und wenn die Sünd wär noch so groß,so werden wir derselben losdurch Kraft der Absolution,die hat verordnet Gottes Sohn.8 Wem der Priester auflegt sein Hand,dem löst Christ auf der Sünden Bandund absolvirt ihn durch sein Blut;wers glaubt, aus Gnad hat solches Gut.9 Das ist der heilgen Schlüssen Kraft,sie bindt und wieder ledig macht;die Kirch trägt sie an ihrer Seit,die Hausmutter der Christenheit.10 Wen nun sein G'wissen beißt und nagt,die Sünd ihn quält, daß er verzagt,der halt sich zu dem Gnadenthron,zum Wort der Absolution.11 Lob sei dir, wahrer Gottessohn,für die heilg Absolution,darin du zeigst dein Gnad und Güt;vor falschen Ablaß uns behüt.12 Ehr sei Gott Vater und dem Sohn,samt Heilgem Geist in einem Thron,wie es von Anfang war allzeit,ist jetzt und bleibt in Ewigkeit.Nikolaus Hermann, 1560.
My prose translation:
1 "As surely as I live," says God, the Lord,"I desire not the death of the sinner,"But rather that he would turn,"Repent, and live eternally."2 Therefore Christ, the Lord, sent His disciples."Go forth; preach in all the land"Forgiveness of sins to everyone"Who is sorry for it, believes, and wants [ablan].3 "To whom you will forgive sins,"You should loose on this earth;"For whom you retain them in My Name,"To him should they be retained.4 "What you bind should be bound;"What you loose should be loose;"The keys to the kingdom"I thus give to you all.5 "To whom you proclaim this comfort"That he would be redeemed through My blood,"Keep this testimony in his heart,"The same is free from guilt and suffering."6 When the priest absolves us,The Lord Christ conducts His office through himAnd Himself pronounces us clean from sin;The servant is merely His instrument.7 And if the sin be yet so greatThen we will loose the sameBy the power of absolution,Which God's Son has prescribed.8 From him on whom the priest lays his handDoes Christ remove the bond of sinAnd absolves him through His blood;He who believes it out of mercy has such good.9 That is the power of the holy key:It binds and again makes free;The church carries it at her side,The matron of Christendom.10 He whose conscience now bites and gnaws,Whose sin torments him so that he despairs,Holds onto the throne of mercy,To the word of absolution.11 Praise be to You, true Son of God,For the holy absolution,In which You show Your mercy and goodness;From false indulgence protect us.12 Glory be to God the Father and to the Son,Together with the Holy Ghost on one throne,As it was always from the beginning,Is now, and remains in eternity.Nikolaus Hermann, 1560.
The first verse seems to be drawn from Ezekiel 33:11: "Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?"
I couldn't find a translation for "ablan" at the end of the second verse. I suspect it's abbreviated in order to rhyme with "jedermann" from the previous line.
The third verse seems to be based on John 20:23: "'If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.'"
The fourth verse paraphrases Matthew 16:19.
This hymn appears as "Yea, as I Live, Jehovah Saith" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#331), "As Surely as I Live, God Said" in Lutheran Worship (##235), and "'As Surely as I Live,' God Said" in The Lutheran Service Book (#614), although all are abbreviated forms, omitting verses five, seven, nine, and ten of the above. In all of these, the text is paired with "St. Luke" (LSB also lists "Erhalt uns, Herr" as an alternate tune), but according to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to the tune "Wenn wir in höchsten N[öten sein]." Here's an arrangement from TLH:
And here's an arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch: