All Glory Be to God on High

Tune: Allein Gott in der Höh

Download: Booklet

  1. All glory be to God on high
    And thanks for His good favor,
    For unto us there can come nigh
    No harm both now and ever;
    God showeth His good will to men,
    And peace shall reign on earth again;
    All strife at last is ended.

  2. We praise, we worship Thee, we trust,
    And give Thee thanks forever,
    O Father, that Thy rule is just
    And wise and changes never.
    Thy boundless pow’r o’er all things reigns,
    Done is whate’er Thy will ordains:
    Well for us that Thou rulest.

  3. O Jesus Christ, Thou only Son
    Of God, Thy heav’nly Father,
    Who didst for all our sins atone
    And Thy lost sheep dost gather:
    Thou Lamb of God, to Thee on high
    From out our depths we sinners cry,
    Have mercy on us, Jesus!

  4. O Holy Ghost, Thou precious Gift,
    Thou Comforter unfailing,
    O’er Satan’s snares our souls uplift
    And let Thy pow’r availing
    Avert our woes and calm our dread.
    For us the Savior’s blood was shed;
    We trust in Thee to save us.

Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
Nikolaus Decius, 1525
Tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Source: The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, No. 237

German Text

Tune: Allein Gott in der Höh

  1. Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr
    Und Dank für seine Gnade,
    Darum daß nun und nimmermehr
    Uns rühren kann kein Schade;
    Ein Wohlgefalln Gott an uns hat,
    Nun ist groß Fried ohn Unterlaß,
    All Fehd hat nun ein Ende.

  2. Wir loben, preisn, anbeten dich,
    Für deine Ehr wir danken,
    Daß du, Gott Vater, ewiglich
    Regierst ohn alles Wanken;
    Ganz ungemessn ist deine Macht,
    Fort g’schicht, was dein Will hat bedacht;
    Wohl uns des seinen Herren!

  3. O Jesu Christ! Sohn eingeborn
    Deines himmlischen Vaters,
    Versöhner der, die warn verlorn,
    Du Stiller unsers Haders;
    Lamm Gottes, heilger Herr und Gott,
    Nimm an die Bitt von unsrer Not,
    Erbarm dich unser aller!

  4. O Heilger Geist, du höchstes Gut,
    Du allerheilsamst Tröster,
    Fürs Teufels G’walt fortan behüt,
    Die Jesus Christ erlöset
    Durch große Martr und bittern Tod,
    Abwend all unsern Jammr und Not;
    Darzu wir uns verlassen.

Nikolaus Decius, 1525
Source: C.F.W. Walther’s Kirchen-Gesangbuch, 1898 printing

 

A common metrical setting of the Gloria in Excelsis, “Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr” (“All Glory Be to God on High”) was written by Nikolaus Decius and printed in the Rostock Gesangk Boek in 1525. The tune is also generally attributed to Decius and is based on a tenth-century Easter Gloria. It appears in a new translation more reflective of the German original in the Lutheran Service Book, No. 947, but the new text is copyright 2006. For the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book, we have returned to Catherine Winkworth’s free but worthy translation as found in The Lutheran Hymnal, with slight alteration in the first stanza to match more closely Decius’s original. The musical arrangement is adapted from Michael Praetorius, Musae Sioniae Vol. 2, 1607.