1 That man a godly life might live,
God did these Ten Commandments give
By His true servant Moses, high
Upon the Mount Sinai.
Have mercy, Lord!
2 I am thy God and Lord alone,
No other God before Me own;
Put thy whole confidence in Me
And love Me e’er cordially.
Have mercy, Lord!
3 By idle word and speech profane
Take not My holy name in vain
And praise but that as good and true
Which I Myself say and do.
Have mercy, Lord!
4 Hallow the day which God hath blest
That thou and all thy house may rest;
Keep hand and heart from labor free
That God may so work in thee.
Have mercy, Lord!
5 Give to thy parents honor due,
Be dutiful, and loving, too,
And help them when their strength decays;
So shalt thou have length of days.
Have mercy, Lord!
6 In sinful wrath thou shalt not kill
Nor hate nor render ill for ill;
Be patient and of gentle mood,
And to thy foe do thou good.
Have mercy, Lord!
7 Be faithful to thy marriage vows,
Thy heart give only to thy spouse;
Thy life keep pure, and lest thou sin,
Use temperance and discipline.
Have mercy, Lord!
8 Steal not; all usury abhor
Nor wring their life-blood from the poor,
But open wide thy loving hand
To all the poor in the land.
Have mercy, Lord!
9 Bear not false witness nor belie
Thy neighbor by foul calumny.
Defend his innocence from blame;
With charity hide his shame.
Have mercy, Lord!
10 Thy neighbor’s house desire thou not,
His wife, nor aught that he hath got,
But wish that his such good may be
As thy heart doth wish for thee.
Have mercy, Lord!
11 God these commandments gave therein
To show thee, child of man, thy sin
And make thee also well perceive
How man unto God should live.
Have mercy, Lord!
12 Help us, Lord Jesus Christ, for we
A mediator have in Thee.
Our works cannot salvation gain;
They merit but endless pain.
Have mercy, Lord!
Amen.
Source: The Lutheran Hymnal #287
First Line: | That man a godly life might live |
Original Language: | German |
Translator: | Richard Massie |
Author: | Martin Luther |
Language: | English |
Refrain First Line: | Have mercy, Lord |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Dies sind die heilgen zehn Gebot. M. Luther. [Ten Commandments.] After the 13th century, the Ten Commandments began to be used in Germany at the confessional, and for the instruction of children, and in later times on pilgrimages and as an introduction to the Litany during Passiontide. Luther's catechetical, metrical setting 1st appeared in Eyn Enchiridion, Erfurt, 1524, and thence in Wackernagel, iii. p. 15, in 12 stanzas of 4 lines, each stanza ending with "Kyriolys." Included in Schircks's edition of Luther ‘s Geistliche Lieder, 1854, p. 47, and as No. 364 in the Unverfälschter Liedersegen, 1851. The only translation in common use is:—
That men a godly life might live, in R. Massie's M. Luther's Spiritual Songs, 1854, p. 55, and thence, as No. 204, in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal1880, and in Dr. Bacon, 1884, p. 28.
Other translations are:—(l) "These are the holy commaundements ten," by Bp. Coverdale, 1539 (Remains, 1846, p. 544). (2) " Moyses upon the Mont Sinay," in the Gude & Godlie Ballates (edition 1568, folio 5), edition 1868, p. 6. (3) "These are the holy ten Commands," as No. 433, in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymn Book, 1754. (4) "These are the holy commandments," by J. Anderson, 1846, p. 53 (1847, p. 69). (5.) "The Lord Himself from Sinai's hill,” by Dr. J. Hunt, 1853, p. 83. (6) “These are the holy ten Commands," by Dr. G. Macdonald in the Sunday Magazine, 1867, p. 571, thence, altered, in his Exotics, 1876, p. 84. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)