Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church ‎#510

510. O how blest are ye whose toils are ended!

1 O how blest are they whose toils are ended!
Who, through death, have unto God ascended!
Ye have arisen
From the cares which keep us still in prison.

2 Christ has wiped away your tears forever;
Ye have that for which we still endeavor,
By you are chanted
Songs that ne'er to mortal ears were granted.

3 Ah! who would then not depart with gladness,
To inherit heaven for earthly sadness?
Who here would languish
Longer in bewailing and in anguish?

4 Come, 0 Christ, and loose the chains that bind us!
Lead us forth, and cast this world behind us!
With Thee, th'Anointed,
Finds the soul its joy and rest appointed.

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: O how blest are ye whose toils are ended!
• Author: Simon Dach (1635)
• Translator: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1846)
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1917
• Topic: The Life Everlasting: Death

Tune Information

• Name: O WIE SELIG SEID IHR DOCH
• Meter: 10 10, 5 10
• Key: E♭ Major
• Source: Stözel's Choral-Buch, Stuttgart, 1744