1. “Comfort, comfort ye My people,
   Speak ye peace,” thus saith our God;
   “Comfort those who sit in darkness,
   Mourning ’neath their sorrows’ load.
   Speak ye to Jerusalem
   Of the peace that waits for them;
   Tell her that her sins I cover
   And her warfare now is over.”

2. Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
   Blotting out each dark misdeed;
   All that well deserved His anger
   He no more will see or heed.
   She hath suffered many‿a day,
   Now her griefs have passed away;
   God will change her pining sadness
   Into everspringing gladness.

3. Hark, the Herald’s voice is crying
   In the desert far and near,
   Bidding all men to repentance
   Since the Kingdom now is here.
   Oh, that warning cry obey!
   Now prepare for God a way;
   Let the valleys rise to meet Him
   And the hills bow down to greet Him.

4. Make ye straight what long was crooked,
   Make the rougher places plain;
   Let your hearts be true and humble,
   As befits His holy reign.
   For the glory of the Lord
   Now o’er earth is shed abroad,
   And all flesh shall see the token
   That His Word is never broken.

Tröstet, tröstet meine Lieben
Johann Olearius, 1671
Tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Source: The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, No. 61