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