J.S. Bach BWV 200, ‘Bekennen will ich seinen Namen’ (I want to acknowledge His name)
Giotto, "Presentation in the Temple" (1304-06)
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple).
Poet unknown (fragmentary).
After 1735, perhaps in the 1740’s (so Dürr, p. 545).
C. F. Peters (1935); NBA I/28.
1. Aria (A)
Acknowledge will I his name’s honor,
He is the Lord, he is the Christ,
In whom the seed of ev’ry nation
Salvation and redemption hath.
No death robs me of confidence:
The Lord is of my life the light.(1)
1. This text is an adaptation of the “Song of Simeon” (the “Nunc dimittis”), Lk. 2:29-32.
Oboe I/II, Violino I/II, Viola, Tromba da tirarsi col Soprano, Continuo
Johann Heinrich Schönfeld, "The Flood" (1634-35)
Wo soll ich fliehen hin,
Where should I flee
Weil ich beschweret bin
since I am weighed down
Mit viel und großen Sünden?
by my many grievious sins?
Wo soll ich Rettung finden?
Where should I find rescue?
Wenn alle Welt herkäme,
If everybody in the world came to me,
Mein Angst sie nicht wegnähme.
they would not take away my anguish.
2
Recitative [Bass]
Continuo
Der Sünden Wust hat mich nicht nur befleckt
The mess of my sins has not only stained me,
Er hat vielmehr den ganzen Geist bedeckt,
it has rather covered my whole soul,
Gott müßte mich als unrein von sich treiben;
God would have to drive me away from him as something unclean.
Doch weil ein Tropfen heilges Blut
But since a drop of his sacred blood
So große Wunder tut,
does such great wonders,
Kann ich noch unverstoßen bleiben.
I am still able to stay unrejected.
Die Wunden sind ein offnes Meer,
His wounds are an open sea
Dahin ich meine Sünden senke,
in which I sink my sins
Und wenn ich mich zu diesem Strome lenke,
and if I make my way to these waters,
So macht er mich von meinen Flecken leer.
they make me clean from my stains.
3
Aria [Tenor]
Viola solo, Continuo
Ergieße dich reichlich, du göttliche, Quelle
Pour yourself out abundantly, you divine spring,
Ach, walle mit blutigen Strömen auf mich!
ah!, flow over me with streams of blood!
Es fühlet mein Herze die tröstliche Stunde,
My heart feels the hour of consolation,
Nun sinken die drückenden Lasten zu Grunde,
now my crushing burdens sink to the ground,
Es wäschet die sündlichen Flecken von sich.
the stains of sin are washed away from me.
4
Recitativo [Alto]
Oboe I, Continuo
Mein treuer Heiland tröstet mich,
My faithful saviour comforts me,
Es sei verscharrt in seinem Grabe,
buried in his grave
Was ich gesündigt habe;
are the sins I have committed;
Ist mein Verbrechen noch so groß,
however great my offence,
Er macht mich frei und los.
he sets me free and at liberty.
Wenn Gläubige die Zuflucht bei ihm finden,
If believers find refuge with him,
Muß Angst und Pein
anguish and suffering
Nicht mehr gefährlich sein
can present no more danger
Und alsobald verschwinden;
and soon disappear;
Ihr Seelenschatz, ihr höchstes Gut
Their soul’s treasure, their greatest good
Ist Jesu unschätzbares Blut;
is Jesus’ priceless blood;
Es ist ihr Schutz vor Teufel, Tod und Sünden,
This is their protection from the devil, death and sin,
In dem sie überwinden.
in this they are victorious.
5
Aria [Bass]
Tromba, Oboe I/II, Violino I all’ unisono, Violino II, Viola, Continuo
Verstumme, Höllenheer,
Be dumbfounded, you hosts of hell,
Du machst mich nicht verzagt!
you do not make me disheartened!
Ich darf dies Blut dir zeigen,
I have only to show this blood to you,
So musst du plötzlich schweigen,
and you have to be quiet at once,
Es ist in Gott gewagt.
my courage depends on God.
6
Recitative [Soprano]
Continuo
Ich bin ja nur das kleinste Teil der Welt,
I am indeeed only the smallest part of the world,
Und da des Blutes edler Saft
and since the noble sap of this blood
Unendlich große Kraft
Bewährt erhält,
contains infinitely great power
that has been tried and tested
Dass jeder Tropfen, so auch noch so klein,
so that each drop , however small,
Die ganze Welt kann rein
can make the whole world
Von Sünden machen,
pure from sins,
So lass dein Blut
then let your blood
Ja nicht an mir verderben,
not lose its power for me,
Es komme mir zugut,
may it benefit me
Dass ich den Himmel kann ererben.
so that I can inherit heaven.
7
Chorale [S, A, T, B]
Violino I e Oboe I/II e Tromba da tirarsi col Soprano, Violino II coll’Alto, Viola col Tenore, Continuo
Führ auch mein Herz und Sinn
Guide then my heart and mind
Durch deinen Geist dahin,
through your Spirit
Dass ich mög alles meiden,
so that I may avoid everything
Was mich und dich kann scheiden,
that can separate me and you
Und ich an deinem Leibe
and in your body
Ein Gliedmaß ewig bleibe.
may I always remain a member.
Note on the text
Cantata for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, BWV 5, first performed on 15 October 1724. It belongs to Bach’s ambitious cycle of chorale cantatas, each based on a unifying theme, which he produced at Leipzig in 1724-5. The autograph score, once in the collection of the Austrian essayist and poet Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), is now in the British Library. In common with all the chorale-based cantatas of Bach’s second Leipzig cycle, the author of the text for this piece is unidentified. It derives from a hymn (1630) by the 17th-century writer Johann Heermann and, as usual with the chorale cantatas of this period, the librettist has included strophes in their original form in the opening and conclud ing sections of the work. In the Dresden hymn schedules for this Sunday in Trinity, Heermann’s text was listed under the heading ‘Hymns Concerning Repentance and Confession’ (G. Stiller: Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig (St Louis, Miss., 1970),246). The five intervening sections incorporate paraphrased strophes of Heermann’s hymn. The Gospel appointed for the day (Matthew 9: 1-8) recounts the story of the man healed of the palsy and from this derives the central theme of the cantata, drawn both from the Gospel and from the hymn text itself: ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee’.
Walk on the road of faith,
God hath the stone established
Which holds and bears up Zion;
Man, stumble not thereon!
Walk on the road of faith!
3. Recit. (B)
The Savior is in charge
In Israel o’er fall and resurrection.
The noble stone doth bear no fault
Whene’er the wicked world
So hard on it is dashed,
Yea, over it to hell doth fall,
For it with spite into it runneth
And God’s own grace
And mercy won’t acknowledge!
But blessed is
The chosen man of Christ,
Who on this cornerstone his faith’s foundation layeth,
For he thereby health and redemption findeth.
4. Aria (S)
Stone surpassing ev’ry treasure,
Help that I may for all time,
Through my faith, upon thee stablish
My foundation for true grace
And may not on thee be wounded,
Stone surpassing ev’ry treasure!
5. Recit. (B)
Now angry is the clever world
That God’s own Son
Hath left his lofty throne of praise,
Hath self in flesh and blood appareled,
And as a mortal suffers.
The greatest wisdom of this earth must
Before the will of God
The greatest folly seem now.(1)
For what God hath decreed
Can merest reason never fathom;
That blind seductress misleads the blind in spirit.(2)
6. Aria (S, B) Soul, Jesus
(Soul)
How shall I, O lover of souls, now embrace thee?
(Jesus)
Thou must all abandon and thyself deny thee!
(Soul)
How shall I perceive then the eternal light?
(Jesus)
Perceive me with faith and yield not unto spite!
(Soul)
Come, teach me, O Savior, of earth to be scornful!
(Jesus)
Come, spirit, through sadness to gladness walk joyful!
BWV 112 Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt
Misericordias Domini (Second Sunday after Easter).
Wolfgang Meuslin, an imitation of Ps. 23, 1530; PT (Leipzig, 1731); Facs: Neumann T, p. 443.
1-5. Verses 1-5 of the hymn.
8 April 1731, Leipzig.
BG 24; NBA I/11.
1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)
The Lord is now my shepherd true,
He holds me in his shelter,
Wherein for nothing shall I want,
Possessing any value;
He gives me pasture endlessly,
Whereon grows the sweet-tasting grass
Of his word’s healing Gospel.
2. Aria [Verse 2] (A)
To water pure he leadeth me,
Which me refreshment bringeth.
It is his sacred Holy Ghost,
Which makes me strong in courage.
He guides me on the proper road
Of his commandments evermore
For sake of his own name and honor.
3. Recit. [Verse 3] (B)
And though I wander in darkness’ vale,
I’ll fear(1) no evil fortune,
Persecution, suff’ring, sadness,
Nor this world’s callous whimsy;
For thou art with me constantly,
Thy staff and rod, they comfort me,
To thy word I commend me.
4. Aria [Verse 4] (S, T)
Thou preparest a table for me
Midst the foes(2) which stand about me,
Dost my heart make unafraid and fresh,
My head hast thou anointed
With thine own Spirit’s joyful oil,
And thou dost pour full this my soul
With thy spiritual gladness.
5. Chorale [Verse 5] (S, A, T, B)
His goodness and his mercy shall
Attend me through my lifetime,
And I will evermore abide
Within the Lord’s own dwelling,
On earth in Christian company,
And after death there will I be
With Christ, my Lord and Master.
BWV 62 Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland II
First Sunday in Advent.
Poet unknown.
1. Martin Luther, verse 1 of the German adaptation of Veni redemptor gentium, 1524 (Wackernagel, III, #16); 2. based loosely on verses 2-3; 3. based on verses 4-5; 4. based on verse 6; 5. based on verse 7. 6. final verse of the hymn.
3 December 1724, Leipzig; again after 1732.
BG 16; NBA I/1.
1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)
Now come, the gentiles’ Savior,
As the Virgin’s child revealed,
At whom marvels all the world,
That God him this birth ordained.
2. Aria (T)
Admire, all ye people, this mystery’s grandeur:
The highest of rulers appears to the world.
Here are all the treasures of heaven discovered,
Here for us a manna divine is ordained,
O wonder! Virginity bideth unblemished.
3. Recit. (B)
Now comes from God’s great majesty and throne
His one begotten Son.
The man from Judah now appears
To run his course with gladness(1)
And us the fallen bring redemption.
O splendid light,
O sign of grace most wonderful!
4. Aria (B)
Fight victorious, hero strong!
Show for us in flesh thy power!
Ever striving
Our own power, now so feeble,
Strong to temper.
5. Recit. (S, A)
We honor this great majesty
And venture nigh now to thy cradle
And praise thee now with lips of gladness
For what thou us hast brought;
For darkness did not trouble us
When we beheld thy lasting light.
6. Chorale [Verse 8] (S, A, T, B)
Praise to God, the Father, be,
Praise to God, his only Son,
Praise to God, the Holy Ghost,
Always and eternally!
BWV 78 Jesu, der du meine Seele
Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Poet unknown.
1. Johann Rist, verse 1 of the hymn, 1641 (Fischer-Tümpel, II, #189);2. based freely on verse 2; 3. based on verses 3, 4, and 5; 4. based
freely on verses 6 and 7; 5. based on verses 8-10; 6. based freely on verse 11; 7. verse 12, the final verse of the hymn.
10 September 1724, Leipzig.
BG 18; NBA I/21.
1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)
Jesus, thou who this my spirit
Hast through thy most bitter death
From the devil’s murky cavern
And that grief which plagues the soul
Forcefully brought forth to freedom
And of this hast well assured me
Through thy most endearing word,
Be e’en now, O God, my shield!
2. Aria (S, A)
O Jesus, O master, to thee for thy help.
Thou seekest the ailing and erring most faithful,
Ah, hearken, as we
Our voices are raising to beg thee for succor!
Let on us thy countenance smile ever gracious!
3. Recit. (T)
Ah! I am a child of error,
Ah! I wander far and wide.(1)
The rash(2) of error which o’er me is coursing,
Leaves me no peace in these my mortal days.
My will attends alone to evil.
My soul, though, saith: ah, who will yet redeem me?
But both flesh and blood to conquer,
And bring goodness to fulfillment,(3)
Surpasseth all my power and strength.(4)
Though I my error would not bury,
Yet I cannot my many failures number.
Therefore, I take of sin the grief and pain
And all my sorrow’s burden,
Which would be past my pow’r to carry:
I yield them to thee, Jesus, with a sigh.
Reckon not the sinful deed,
Which, O Lord, hath angered thee!(5)
4. Aria (T)
That blood which doth my guilt annul,
It makes my heart feel light again
And sets me free.
Should hell’s own host call me to battle,
Yet Jesus will stand firm beside me,
That I take heart and vict’ry gain.
5. Recit. (B)
The wounding, nailing, crown and grave,
The beating, which were there the Savior giv’n
For him are now the signs of triumph
And can endow me with new strength and power.
Whene’er an awful judgment seat
A curse upon the damned doth speak,
Thou changest it to blessing.
There is no grief nor any pain to stir me,
For them my Savior knows;
And as thy heart for me with love doth burn,
So I in turn would offer
Whate’er I own before thee.
This my heart, with grief acquainted,
Which thy precious blood hath quickened,
Shed upon the cross by thee,
I give thee, Lord Jesus Christ.(6)
6. Aria (B)
Now thou wilt this my conscience quiet
Which gainst my will for vengeance cries;
Yea, thine own faithfulness will fill it,
Because thy word bids me have hope.
When Christian folk shall trust thee,
No foe in all eternity
From thine embrace shall steal them.
7. Chorale [Verse 12] (S, A, T, B)
Lord, I trust thee, help my weakness,
Let me, yea, not know despair;
Thou, thou canst my strength make firmer
When by sin and death I’m vexed.
Thy great goodness I’ll be trusting
‘Til that day I see with gladness
Thee, Lord Jesus, battle done,
In that sweet eternity.
1. This and the preceding line are verbatim from verse 3.
2. Aussatz ‘rash’ is any kind of skin disease, such as leprosy,
eczema, or boils.
3. This and the preceding line are verbatim from verse 4.
4. Cf. Rom. 7:18 and 24.
5. This and the preceding line are verbatim from verse 5. Cf. Martin
Luther, verse 1 of “Mitten wir im Leben” (Wackernagel, III, #12).
6. The last four lines of this movement are verbatim from verse 10.
3. Act 14:22; 6. Johann Crüger’s chorale melody for “Jesu, meine Freude” by Johann Franck, 1650 (cf. BWV 227); 7. Samuel Rodigast, final verse of “Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan,” 1674 (Fischer-Tümpel, IV, #467).
22 April 1714, Weimar; 30 April 1724, Leipzig; Parody: —> Mass in B Minor, BWV 232/16(II,5).
BG 2; NBA I/11.
1. Sinfonia
2. Chorus (S, A, T, B)
Weeping, wailing
Grieving, fearing,
Dread and need
Are the Christians’ tearful bread,
Them the sign of Jesus bearing.
3. Recit. [Dictum] (A)
We must pass through great sadness that we come into God’s kingdom.
4. Aria (A)
Cross and crown are joined together,
Gem and conflict are made one.
Christians must at ev’ry hour
Have their torment and their foe,
But Christ’s wounds shall be their comfort.
5. Aria (B)
I’ll follow after Christ,
I will not e’er forsake him
In health and in distress,
In living and in dying.
I kiss of Christ his shame,
I’ll take his cross unto me.
I’ll follow after Christ,
I will not e’er forsake him.
6. Aria (T) with instr. chorale
Be steadfast, ev’ry pain
Will have but a trifle been.
After showers
Blessing flowers,
Ev’ry tempest will have past.
Be steadfast, be steadfast.(2)
7. Chorale (S, A, T, B)
What God doth, that is rightly done,
To that will I be cleaving,
Though out upon the cruel road
Need, death and suff’ring drive me,
E’en so will God,
All fatherhood,
Within his arms enfold me:
So I yield him all power.
1. So Dürr, p. 263. For further evidence of Franck’s authorship see
Ambrose, BJ (1980), pp. 35-44, and Bach (1982), pp. 20-22.
2. The idea of ameliorative metamorphosis in this movement is so
strongly dependent upon the repetition of the sound ai, the sound of
lamentation, I have chosen to rhyme the translation. It is
particularly interesting that the final verse of Johann Frank’s
chorale “Jesu, meine Freude” concludes with the same conceit:
Dennoch bleibst du auch im Leide, Jesu, meine Freude.
Eu and ei were pronounced virtually alike in Bach’s region, allowing
the metamorphosis of “sadness” to “gladness” the support of a rhyme.
Even without words the wailing of the trumpet which plays this chorale
in this movement conveys effectively the sound ai in its text. This
concept is also exploited in the other two cantatas for Jubilate
Sunday, BWV 103 and BWV 146.
BWV 35 Geist und Seele wird verwirret Twelfth Sunday after Trinity
Georg Christian Lehms, Gottgefälliges Kirchen-Opffer (Darmstadt, 1711); Facs: Neumann T, p. 261.
8 September 1726, Leipzig; 1 < --- a concerto from the Cöthen period, of which a fragment survives in a version for harpsichord, BWV 1059.
BG 7; NBA I/20.
First Part
1. Concerto
2. Aria (A)
Soul with spirit is bewildered
When it thee, my God, beholds.(1)
For the wonder which it seeth
And the folk with triumph telleth
Hath it deaf and dumb now made.
3. Recit. (A)
I am amazed;
For ev’rything we see
Must give us cause to marvel.
Regarding thee,
Thou precious Son of God,
From me
My reason and my sense do flee.
Thou art the reason
That even miracles next thee so wretched seem.
Thou art
In name and deed and office truly wonderful,
There is no thing of wonder on the earth like thee.
For hearing givest thou the deaf,
The dumb thou dost return their speaking,
Yea, more than this,
Dost open the lids of eyes unseeing.
These, these are works of wonder,
And to their power
Doth e’en the angel choir lack strength to give expression.
4. Aria (A)
God hath all so well achieved.
His devotion, his good faith
We see ev’ry day renewed.
When both fear and toil oppress us,
He hath ample comfort sent us,
For he tendeth us each day.
God hath all so well achieved.
Second Part
5. Sinfonia
6. Recit. (A)
Ah, mighty God, let me
Then this alway remember,
And then I can
Content within my soul implant thee.
For me let thy sweet Hephata (2)
My heart so obstinate now soften;
Ah, lay thou but upon mine ear thy gracious finger,
Or else I soon must perish.
Touch, too, my tongue’s restraint
With thine own mighty hand,
That I may all these signs of wonder
In sacred worship praise now,
Myself thine heir and child revealing.
7. Aria (A)
I seek alone with God to live now,
Ah, would that now the time were come,
To raise a glad hallelujah
With all the angels in rejoicing.
My dearest Jesus, do release
This sorrow-laden yoke of pain
And let me soon within thy bosom
My life so full of torment finish.
1. Frequently in the cantata texts there is a singular verb with a compound subject, especially when, as here, the two subjects have virtually the same meaning (a rhetorical figure called congeries verborum). While this might have been allowable in the English of Bach’s period, it is probably preferable to avoid the inconcinnity. I have arbitrarily placed one of the subjects in a prepositional phrase and kept a singular verb.
2. Hephata Hebr. ‘be opened!’
BWV 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!
Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity and For any occasion (et in ogni tempo).
4. Substitute verse to Johann Gramann’s “Nun lob, mein Seel, mein
Seel, den Herren,” Königsberg, 1548 (Wackernagel, III, #968ff.)
Probably 17 September 1730, Leipzig.
BG 12, 2; NBA I/22.
1. Arias (S)
Praise ye God in ev’ry nation!
All that heaven and the world
Of created order hold
Must be now his fame exalting,
And we would to this our God
/ With the angels let’s today /(1)
Likewise now present an off’ring
/ To our God a song of praise sing/(2)
For that he midst cross and woe
/ For that he midst spite and pain /(3)
Always hath stood close beside us.
2. Recit. (S)
In prayer we now thy temple face,(4)
Where God’s own honor dwelleth,(5)
Where his good faith,
Each day renewed,
The purest bliss dispenseth.
We praise him for what he for us hath done.
Although our feeble voice before his wonders stammers,
Perhaps e’en modest praise to him will yet bring pleasure.
3. Aria (S)
Highest, make thy gracious goodness
Henceforth ev’ry morning new.
/ E’en in our dominion new. /(6)
Thus before thy father’s love
Should as well the grateful spirit
Through a righteous life show plainly
That we are thy children truly.
4. Chorale (S)
Now laud and praise with honor
God Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
May he in us make increase
What he us with grace hath pledged,
So that we firmly trust him,
Entirely turn to him,
Make him our true foundation,
That our heart, mind and will
Steadfast to him be cleaving;
To this we sing here now:
Amen, we shall achieve it,
This is our heart’s firm faith!
5. Aria (S)
Alleluia!(7)
1. This line is found in the OSt as an alternate text to the
immediately preceding line.
2. This line is found in the OSt as an alternate text to the
immediately preceding line.
3. This line is found in the OSt as an alternate text to the
immediately preceding line.
4. Cf. Ps. 138:2.
5. Cf. Ps. 26:8.
6. This line is found in the OSt as an alternate text to the
immediately preceding line.
7. Bach adds the Alleluia, probably as an etymology of the opening
words of the cantata: in Hebrew hallelu-yah means ‘praise ye Jehovah,”
i.e., Jauchzet Gott.
BWV 2 Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
Second Sunday after Trinity.
Poet unknown.
1. Martin Luther, verse 1 of the hymn, based on Ps. 12, 1524
(Wackernagel, III, #3); 2-5. based on verses 2-5; 6. verse 6 of the
hymn.
18 June 1724, Leipzig.
BG 1; NBA I/16.
1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)
Ah God, from heaven look on us
And grant us yet thy mercy!
How few are found thy saints to be,
Forsaken are we wretches;
Thy word is not upheld as true,
And faith is also now quite dead
Among all mankind’s children.
2. Recit. (T)
They teach a vain and false deceit,(1)
Which is to God and all his truth opposed;
And what the willful mind conceiveth,
—O sorrow which the church so sorely vexeth—
That must usurp the Bible’s place.
The one now chooseth this, the other that,
And reason’s foolishness is their full scope.
They are just like the tombs of dead men,
Which, though they may be outward fair,
Mere stench and mould contain within them
And all uncleanness show when opened.(2)
3. Aria (A)
God, blot out all teachings
Which thy word pervert now!
Check, indeed, all heresy
And all the rabble spirits;
For they speak out free of dread
Gainst him who seeks to rule us!
4. Recit. (B)
The wretched are confused,(3)
Their sighing “Ah,” their anxious mourning
Amidst such cross and woe,
Through which the foe to godly souls deal torture,
Doth now the gracious ear of God Almighty reach.
To this saith God: I must their helper be!
I have their weeping heard,
Salvation’s rosy morn,
The purest truth’s own radiant sunshine bright
Shall them with newfound strength,
The source of life and hope,
Refreshen and make glad.
I will take pity on their suff’ring,
My healing word shall strength be to the wretched.
5. Aria (T)
The fire doth make the silver pure,
The cross the word’s great truth revealeth.
Therefore a Christian must unceasing
His cross and woe with patience bear.
6. Chorale [Verse 6] (S, A, T, B)
That(4) wouldst thou, God, untainted keep
Before this wicked people;
And us into thy care commend,
Lest it in us be twisted.
The godless crowd doth us surround,
In whom such wanton people are
Within thy folk exalted.
Titus 2:11-14 “The grace of God has appeared”
Is. 9:2-7 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; unto us a child is born”
Luke 2:1-14 (The birth of Christ, announcement to the shepherds, the praise of the angels)
The six cantatas that comprise the Christmas Oratorio borrow heavily from BWV 213, 214, 215, and other only partially extant, works.
BWV 140
Wachet auf, uns die Stimme
(NBA 1/27; BC A166)
27. S. after Trinity (BWV 140 only) During Bach’s tenure in Leipzig (1723-1750), a 27th Sunday after Trinity occurred only in 1731 and 1742.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (Last day will come like a thief in the night; exhortation to be ready)
Matthew 25:1-13 (Parable of the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom)
Zion hort die Wachter singen, Mt. 25:6-7. At midnight there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps… Zion hears the watchmen sing, Mt. 25:13. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Das Herz tut ihr vor Freuden springen, Ps. 130:6. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. (Her) heart does – for joy leap, (Her heart leaps for joy,) S. of S. 3:6-7, 9-11. What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant? Behold, it is the litter of Solomon! About it are sixty men of the mighty men of Israel… King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon. He made its posts of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; it was lovingly wrought within by She keeps-watch and rises quickly – the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown with (She has been keeping watch and rises quickly.) which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.
Ihr Freund kommt vom Himmel prachtig, Her friend comes from heaven glorious, Von Gnaden stark, von Warheit machtig, Ps. 104:1… O Lord my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed with honor and majesty. (Also Ps. 93:1) In grace strong, in truth mighty, (Strong in grace, mighty in truth,) Jn. 1:14. The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us, full of grace and truth (Luther: Gnade und Wahrheit); we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. Is. 60:1,3. Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you… And nations shall come to your light, and kings Her light becomes bright; her star rises to the brightness of your rising.
Nun komm, du werte Kron, Is. 28:5. In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people. Now come, thou precious crown, Herr Jesu, Gottes Son! 2 Tim. 4:8. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord… will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but Lord Jesus, God’s Son! also to all who have loved his appearing.
Hosianna! Mt. 24:44. …Be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Hosanna! Mt. 25:10. …The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut (Ps. 45:15)
Lk. 22:17-18. And [Jesus] took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that
We follow all from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
Zum Freudensaal
To joys-hall
Und halten mit das Abendmahl. And hold-together the evening-meal. Rev. 19:9. …Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper
(Luther: Abendmahl) of the Lamb…
Thursday with Iwand 
