Scripture Verse

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Isaiah 53:7

Introduction

portrait
Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676)

Words: Paul Ger­hardt, in Prax­is Pi­eta­tis Me­li­ca, third edi­tion, by Jo­hann Crü­ger, 1648 (Ein Lämm­lein Geht). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ar­thur T. Rus­sell, Psalms and Hymns (Cam­bridge, Eng­land: John Deigh­ton, 1851), num­ber 93.

Music: An Was­ser­flüs­sen Ba­by­lon, ge­ne­ral­ly at­trib­ut­ed to Wolf­gang Dach­stein, in Teutsch Kirch­en­ampt mit lo­big­sen­gen (Strass­burg, Ger­ma­ny: 1525) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

A Lamb goes forth: the sins He bears
Of ev­ery ge­ne­ra­tion:
Himself with pa­tience He pre­pares
To die for ev­ery na­tion.
All faint and weak, be­hold! He goes
His life re­sign­ing to His foes:
No thought His grief can mea­sure.
He yields to scorn, re­proach, dis­dain,
Wounds, ang­uish, cross, and dy­ing pain,
And saith, It is my plea­sure.

This Lamb my great­est friend I own;
He is my soul’s re­demp­tion:
Sin to de­stroy is His alone,
And give from wrath ex­empt­ion.
In sighs His Spir­it melts away,
His blood, my life in hea­ven­ly day,
In pur­ple streams is flow­ing.
O Lamb be­loved! how shall I Thee
Requite for all, thus un­to me
Such won­drous good­ness show­ing!

illustration
Flagellation
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)