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Saturday, April 18, 2015

German language / free paraphrase of Psalm 130 (written 1523) -- Martin Luther called it a "Pauline Psalm"

from HYMNARY dot-org/ :
Aus tiefer Woth schrei ich zu dir. Martin Luther. [Ps. 130.] This beautiful, though free, version of Ps. cxxx. was written in 1523. Ps. 130 was a great favorite with Luther, one of those he called Pauline Psalms —the others being Pss. 32., 51., and 143. With its versification he took special pains, and the final result ranks with the finest of German Psalm versions. It first appeared in 4 stanzas of 7 lines in Etlich cristlich lider, Wittenberg, 1524, and in Eyn Enchiridion, Erfurt, 1524. The form now in use considerably altered, and with stanza ii. rewritten as ii., iii., appeared in the Geystliche gesangk Buchleyn, Wittenberg, 1524, in 5 stanzas was included as No. 1 in Luther's Christliche Geseng zum Begrebnis, Wittenberg, 1542, and since in almost all German hymn-books.
Verse 1 only =
Out of the depths to thee I raise
the voice of lamentation;
Lord, turn a gracious ear to me,
and hear my supplication;
if thou shouldst be extreme to mark
each secret sin and misdeed dark,
O who could stand before Thee?

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