Easter
Christ Jesus Lay In Death's Strong Bands
- Words:
- Martin Luther, 1524. Translated by Richard Massie, 1854.
- Music:
- 'Christ lag in Tobes Banden' or 'Torgau' from Walter's Geistliche Gesangbüchlein, 1524.
- Setting:
- "Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book", 1931, alt.
- Metre:
- 8 7 8 7 7 8 7 Alleluia4
- 1Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands,For our offenses given;But now at God's right hand He stands,And brings us life from Heaven.Wherefore let us joyful be,And sing to God right thankfullyLoud songs of Alleluia!Alleluia!
- 2No son of man could conquer Death,Such mischief sin had wrought us,For innocence dwelt not on earth,And therefore Death had brought usInto thralldom from of oldAnd ever grew more strong and boldAnd kept us in his bondage.Alleluia!
- 3But Jesus Christ, God's only Son,To our low state descended,The cause of Death He has undone,His power forever ended,Ruined all his right and claimAnd left him nothing but the name,His sting is lost forever.Alleluia!
- 4It was a strange and dreadful strifeWhen life and death contended;The victory remained with life;The reign of death was ended.Stripped of power, no more it reigns,An empty form alone remainsDeath's sting is lost forever!Alleluia!
- 5Here the true Paschal Lamb we see,Whom God so freely gave us;He died on the accursed treeSo strong His love! to save us.See, His blood doth mark our door;Faith points to it, Death passes o'er,And Satan cannot harm us.Alleluia!
- 6So let us keep the festival Where to the Lord invites us;Christ is Himself the joy of all, The Sun that warms and lights us.By His grace He doth impart Eternal sunshine to the heart;The night of sin is ended! Alleluia!
- 7Then let us feast this Easter day On the true Bread of Heaven;The Word of grace hath purged away The old and wicked leaven.Christ alone our souls will feed; He is our Meat and Drink indeed;Faith lives upon no other! Alleluia!
More sheet music
Scripture
Topics
In the hymnals
- Written in 1524, the words are in 64 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. Further sheet music is from PDHymns.com. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.