"Jesus, Jesus, nichts als" (#253)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Jesus, Jesus, nichts als Jesus

soll mein Wunsch sein und mein Ziel;

jetzund mach ich ein Verbündniß,

daß ich will, was Jesus will;

denn mein Herz, mit ihm erfüllt,

rufet nur:  Herr, wie du willt,

2 Einer ist es, dem ich lebe,

den ich liebe früh und spat.

Jesus ist es, dem ich gebe,

was er mir gegeben hat.

Ich bin in dein Blut verhüllt,

führe mich, Herr, wie du willt.

3 Scheinet was, es sei mein Glücke,

und ist doch zuwider dir:

ach, so nimm es bald zurücke,

Jesu, gib, was nützet mir.

Gib dich mir, Herr Jesu, mild,

nimm mich dir, Herr, wie du willt.

4 Und vollbringe deinen Willen

in, durch und an mir, mein Gott,

deinen Willen laß erfüllen

mich im Leben, Freud und Noth,

sterben als dein Ebenbild,

Herr, wann, wo und wie du willt.

5 Sei auch, Jesu, stets gepriesen,

daß du dich und viel dazu

hast geschenket und mir erwiesen,

daß ich fröhlich singe nu:

es geschehe mir, mein Schild,

wie du willt, Herr, wie du willt.

Ludämilie Elisabeth,

Gräfin zu Schwarzburg, 1668.

My prose translations:

1 Jesus, Jesus, nothing but Jesus

Should be my wish and my goal;

Now I make an alliance

That I want what Jesus wants;

For my heart, filled with Him,

Calls only:  "Lord, as You will."

2 It is One for Whom I live,

Whom I love early and late.

It is Jesus to Whom I give

What He has given me.

I am veiled in Your blood;

Lead me, Lord, as You will.

3 [If] something appears to be my happiness

And yet is against You,

Oh, take it away soon;

Jesus, give what is useful to me.

Give Yourself to me, gentle Lord Jesus,

Take me to You, Lord, as You will.

4 And accomplish Your will

In, through, and upon me, my God;

Let Your will fill

Me in life, joy, and distress,

To die as Your image,

Lord, when, where, and how You will.

5 Be also constantly praised, Jesus,

That You have given and shown me

Yourself and much more besides

So that I cheerfully sing now:

It happens to me, my Shield,

How You will, Lord, how You will.

Ludämilie Elisabeth,

Countess to Schwarzburg, 1668.

I couldn't figure out a way to include this in my translation, but the initial letters of each verse spell out "Jesus."  I followed the formatting of the Gesangbuch and put them in bold, but I thought I would make a note of it, too.

In the second verse, spät is purposely misspelled (as "spat") in order to rhyme with "hat" in a later line.  The phrase "früh und spat" ("early and late") is a temporal merism.

I had to shuffle a few elements in the second and third lines of the fifth verse to get a smoother English translation.

This hymn appears as "Jesus, Jesus, Only Jesus" in The Lutheran Hymnal (#348).  As the Gesangbuch notes, the text is sung to "its own tune."  Here's the TLH arrangement:

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