Choir for 4 voices
Soprano solo
Alto solo
Tenor solo
Bass solo
Horn
Travers flute solo
Oboe I + II
Violin I + II
Viola
Basso continuo

Ah, fellow Christians, be consoled,
Why are ye so despondent!
Since now the Lord doth punish us,
Let us sincerely say it:
Chastisement have we well deserved,
This must we one and all confess,
Let no one be excepted.

Where will within this vale of sorrow
My spirit find its refuge now?
Alone in Jesus' hands paternal
Will I in weakness seek my refuge;
I know no other place to go.

O sinner, bear with patient heart
What thou through thine own fault
Upon thyself hast summoned!
Injustice dost thou drink
Like water to thyself,
And this, thy thirsting after sin,
Is for corruption made
And will lead thee to death.
For pride did long ago eat of forbidden fruit,
To be God's equal;
How oft thou risest up with proud and pompous bearing,
And must be humbled in thy turn!
Go forth, make ready now thy heart
That it may death and grave not fear,
Then shalt thou come through death most blessed
Forth from thy sin's corrupt condition
To innocence and majesty.

No fruit the grain of wheat will bear
Unless to earth it falleth; (1.)
So must as well our earthly flesh
Be changed to dust and ashes,
Before it gain that majesty
Which thou, Lord Christ, for us hast made
Through thy path to the Father.

Thou shalt, O death, make me no longer anxious.
If I through thee my freedom would accomplish,
Then I, indeed, one day must death endure.
With Simeon will I in peace then journey,
My Savior shall within the grave protect me
And summon me at last transformed and pure.

Till then be mindful of thy spirit
And give it to thy Savior's care;
Return thy body and thy limbs to
God, who himself did give them to thee.
He cares and tends.
And thus will his own love's great might
In death and life be manifest.

In waking or in slumbering
We are, indeed, God's children;
In Christ baptism we receive,
And he can ward off Satan.
Through Adam to us cometh death,
But Christ frees us from all our need.
For this we praise the Master.

Luke 14: 1-11