The Bridegroom Soon Will Call Us

For Advent

Words: "Der Brautgam wird bald rufen" by Johann Walther, 1552
Based on Matthew 25:1-13, with Notes and Translations

Translated by Matthias Loy (1828-1915), 1880
Compare: Soon Will The Heavenly Bridegroom Come - Translation by Benjamin Hall Kennedy
Soon Shall That Voice Resound - "The Wedding Supper" - Henrietta Joan Fry

Music: Ach Gott vom Himmelreiche
First published in: Musae Sioniae, VII, 1609
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML

Meter: 76 76 D

1. The Bridegroom soon will call us:
Come, all ye wedding-guests!
May not His voice appal us
While slumber binds our breasts!
May all our lamps be burning
And oil be found in store
That we, with Him returning,
May open find the door!

2. There shall we see delighted
Our dear Redeemer's face,
Who leads our souls benighted
To glory by His grace.
The patriarchs shall meet us,
The prophets' holy band,
Apostles, martyrs, greet us
In that celestial land.

3. They will not blush to own us
As brothers, sisters dear;
Love ever will be shown us
When we with them appear.
We all shall come before Him
Who for us man became,
As Lord and God adore Him,
And ever bless His name.

4. Our Father, rich in blessing,
Will give us crowns of gold
And, to His bosom pressing,
Impart a bliss untold,
Will welcome with embraces
Of never-ending love,
And deck us with His graces
In blissful realms above.

5. In yonder home shall never
Be silent music's voice;
With hearts and lips forever
We shall in God rejoice.
The angels shall adore Him,
All saints shall sing His praise
And bring with joy before Him
Their sweetest heavenly lays.

6. In mansions fair and spacious
Will God the feast prepare
And, ever kind and gracious,
Bid us its riches share.
There bliss that knows no measure
From springs of love shall flow,
And never-changing pleasure
His bounty will bestow.

7. Thus God shall from all evil
Forever make us free,
From sin and from the devil,
From all adversity,
From sickness, pain, and sadness,
From troubles, cares, and fears,
And grant us heavenly gladness
And wipe away our tears.

Sheet Music "Canaan" from Charles Seymour Robinson, ed., Psalms and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (Presbyterian Committee of Publication, 1882), p.447.

Notes:
Hymn #67 from The Lutheran Hymnal (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941). This text was converted to ASCII format for Project Wittenberg by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain. For more information about Project Wittenberg, contact Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary, 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft.  Wayne, IN 46825 USA.

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