O sacred head now wounded with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns thine only crown,
How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn.
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn?
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners’ gain.
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior: ‘Tis I deserve Thy place.
Thou heaped upon me Thy favor and saved me by Thy grace.*
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend
For this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
For I am Thine forever*, and should I fainting be
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
Translated from German into English by James W. Alexander in 1830.
*The lines ending with asterisks were altered by me to accurately reflect the unconditionality and eternal security promised to us in God’s Word, the Bible.
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns thine only crown,
How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn.
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn?
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners’ gain.
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior: ‘Tis I deserve Thy place.
Thou heaped upon me Thy favor and saved me by Thy grace.*
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend
For this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
For I am Thine forever*, and should I fainting be
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
Translated from German into English by James W. Alexander in 1830.
*The lines ending with asterisks were altered by me to accurately reflect the unconditionality and eternal security promised to us in God’s Word, the Bible.