Es woll uns Gott genädig sein


"Es woll uns Gott genädig sein" is a Lutheran hymn, with words written by Martin Luther based on the Psalm 67. The hymn in three stanzas of nine lines each was first published in Wittenberg in 1524. Its best known hymn tune, Zahn No. 7247, was published in Strasbourg in 1524. Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach wrote settings of the hymn. It was translated to English and has appeared in dozens of hymnals.

History

Luther wrote in a letter to Georg Spalatin, around the end of 1523, about the importance of writing "Deutsche Psalmen". Trying to win Spalatin for collaboration, he specifies:
Luther wrote "Es wolt uns got genedig sein" as a paraphrase of in three stanzas of nine lines each. It was first printed in Wittenberg in 1524, first in a leaflet together with "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir”, a paraphrase of Psalm 130. It appeared then in Luther’s Ein weyse Christliche Messe zu halten und zum Tisch Gottis zu gehen. It was published the same year in the Erfurt Enchiridion.

Lyrics

Melody and settings

's "Es woll uns Gott genädig sein" hymn tune, Zahn No. 7246, originally composed for another hymn, was published in 1524. That hymn tune, however, was from 1543 associated with the "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" hymn. Another tune for the "Es woll uns Gott genädig sein" hymn, Zahn No. 7247, was published in 1524 in Strasbourg.
Heinrich Schütz set it as part of his Becker Psalter of all psalms in German. Johann Sebastian Bach used it as the basis for chorale preludes, and in cantatas such as his second cantata as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76, when he closed part I with the first stanza and part II with the last.

Translation

The hymn was translated to English and has appeared in over 25 hymnals. A. T. Russell translated it as "May God unto us gracious be" and included it in his Psalms & Hymns, printed in 1851. Richard Massie translated it in 1851 to "May God bestow on us His grace".