Parte Prima
No. 1: CHORUS
Lord, thou our Governor, thou, whose fame
In every nation glorious is,
Show us through this thy Passion,
that thou, the very Son of God,
in every age,
e'en in the greatest depths of woe,
most glorious art become!
No. 2a: RECITATIVE
EVANGELIST
Jesus crossed with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden. To it Jesus went with his disciples. Judas, though, who had betrayed him, knew the place as well for Jesus had often gone there with his disciples. When now Judas had brought with him the crowd and the chief priests and the Pharisees' servants, he entered there with torches, lanterns and with weapons. Since now Jesus knew all that would happen to him, he went outside and said to them:
JESUS
Whom do ye seek?
EVANGELIST
They replied unto him:
No. 2b: CHORUS
Jesus of Nazareth.
No. 2c: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Jesus saith unto them:
JESUS
I am he.
EVANGELIST
Judas also, who had betrayed him, stood though among them. And when Jesus had said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground Then he asked them for a second time:
JESUS
Whom do ye seek?
EVANGELIST
And they did answer:
No. 2d: CHORUS
Jesus of Nazareth.
No. 2e: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Jesus replied, saying:
JESUS
I have told you that I am he; so if ye seek me, then let these people go!
No. 3: CHORALE
O mighty love,
O love beyond all measure,
Which thee hath brought upon this way of torment!
I lived amongst the world in joy and pleasure,
And thou must suffer.
No. 4: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
So that the word might be accomplished, which he had spoken, "I have not lost one of those thou didst give me." Now Simon Peter had a sword and drew it forth and struck at the chief priest's slave and cut his right ear off; And the slave's name was Malchus. Then spake Jesus to Peter:
JESUS
Put back thy sword in its scabbard! Shall I the cup not drink which my Father hath given me?
No. 5: CHORALE
Thy will be done, Lord God, alike
On earth as e'en in heaven's realm.
Give us restraint in time of pain,
Obedience both in love and woe;
Guard and guide every flesh and blood
Which counter to thy will doth strive!
No. 6: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
The crowd, though, and their captain, and the servants of the Jews laid hold of Jesus and bound him fast and led him away first unto Annas, who was Caiphas' wife's father, and was the high priest of that year. But it was Caiphas who had told the Jews it would be good if one man were slain for the people.
No. 7: ARIA
From the bondage of my sins
me to deliver,
is my Savior fettered,
He from all my body's torments,
fully to heal me,
lets himself be wounded.
No. 8: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Simon Peter followed after Jesus, and one other disciple.
No. 9: ARIA
I'll follow thee likewise
with gladdening paces,
And forsake thee not,
My life and my light.
Now forward my course,
and do not desist,
thyself me to draw on, to press on, to summon.
No. 10: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
This same disciple was acquainted with the high priest and went with Jesus within, to the palace of the high priest. Peter, though, stood outside before the door. Then came the other disciple, who was acquainted with the high priest, outside and spoke with the woman guarding the door, and led Peter inside. Then said the maid who guarded the door to Peter:
MAID
Art thou not also one of this man's disciples?
EVANGELIST
He said:
PETER
I am not.
EVANGELIST
And there the soldiers and servants were standing, who had made a fire out of charcoal (for it was cold), and were warming themselves. Peter, too, was standing with them and warming himself. But the high priest put forth questions to Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus answering him said:
JESUS
I have spoken openly and freely before the world. And in the synagogue and in the temple have I always been teaching, where all the Jews come together, and I have spoken nought in secret. Why dost thou ask me about this? Question those about this who have already heard what I have spoken to them. See, these people know what I have said.
EVANGELIST
But when he had spoken thus, one of the attendants who stood nearby gave Jesus a slap on the cheek and said:
SERVANT
Shalt thou answer the high priest thus?
EVANGELIST
Jesus, though, thus replied to him:
JESUS
If I have spoken ill, then bear witness to the ill therein, but if I have told the truth, why strikest thou me?
No. 11: CHORALE
Who hath thee now so stricken,
My Savior, and with torments
Such ill upon thee laid?
For thou art not a sinner,
Like us and all our children,
From evil-doing thou art free.
I, I and my transgressions,
Which to the grains are likened,
Of sand beside the sea,
These have in thee awakened,
The sorrow that doth strike thee
And this most grievous host of pain.
No. 12a: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And Annas sent him in fetters unto Caiphas, the high priest. Simon Peter stood and warmed himself, when they said unto him:
No. 12b: CHOIR
BYSTANDERS
Art thou not one of his disciples?
No. 12c: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
But he denied it and said:
PETER
I am not.
EVANGELIST
Then saith one of the high priest's servants, an acquaintance of him whose ear Peter had smitten off:
SERVANT
Did I not see thee with him in the garden?
EVANGELIST
Peter once again denied it and at once the cock did crow. Then did Peter think back to the words of Jesus and went outside and wept most bitterly.
No. 13: ARIA
Ah, my mind,
Where wouldst thou go at last,
Where shall I find refreshment?
Stay I here,
Or choose to place Hills
and mountains far behind me?
In the world there is no help;
And my bosom keeps the sorrow for my evil deed,
since the servant hath denied his Lord.
No. 14: CHORALE
Peter, when he fails to think,
Hath his God deniéd.
Yet when first the truth is seen,
Bitterly he weepeth.
Jesus, look on me as well,
When I feel no sorrow;
When I wickedness have done,
Stir up thou my conscience!
Interlude: Fantasie in C (BWV 562)
Benoït Mernier
Second Part
No. 15: CHORALE
Christ, who hath us blessed made,
No wrong hath committed;
He was for us in the night
like a thief made captive,
led before a godless crowd
and falsely indicted,
and mocked and scorned and bespat
for so it was written.
No. 16a: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Then they led away Jesus from Caiphas to the praetorium, and it was early. And they entered not the praetorium, so that they not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. So Pilatus went forth to them outside and said:
PILATUS
What accusation bring ye against this man?
EVANGELIST
And they answered and said unto him:
No. 16b: CHORUS
Were this man here not an evildoer, we had to thee him not delivered.
No. 16c: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Then Pilate said unto them:
PILATUS
So take ye him from here and judge him according to your law!
EVANGELIST
Then said the Jews unto him:
No. 16d: CHORUS
To death we may put no one.
No. 16e: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
So that might be fulfilled the word of Jesus which he had spoken when he prophesied by what death he was to perish. Then Pilate went back inside the praetorium and called Jesus and said to him:
PILATUS
Art thou the King of the Jews?
EVANGELIST
Jesus replied to him:
JESUS
Dost thou say this of thyself, or have others said this of me to thee?
EVANGELIST
And Pilate replied to him:
PILATUS
Am I a Jew? Thy people and the high priests have handed thee over to me; what hast thou done?
EVANGELIST
Jesus replied
JESUS
My kingdom is not of this world, were my kingdom of this world, my servants would fight that I not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingdom is not from here.
No. 17: CHORALE
Ah King so mighty, mighty in all ages,
How may I fitly thy devotion publish?
No human heart could ever now imagine
What it should give thee.
I cannot with my reason ever fathom,
to what indeed thy mercy may be likened.
How can I then the acts of thy compassion
In deed repay thee?
No. 18a: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Then spake Pilate unto him:
PILATUS
So art thou truly a king?
EVANGELIST
Jesus replied to him:
JESUS
Thou say'st I am a king. I have been born for this and into the world come, that I may witness unto truth. All who are of the truth will hearken to my voice.
EVANGELIST
Then Pilate saith to him:
PILATUS
What is truth?
EVANGELIST
And after he had said this, he went outside again to the Jews and said unto them:
PILATUS
I find not any guilt in him. Ye have, however, a custom, that I to you one man release; would ye that I to you the King of the Jews release now?
EVANGELIST
They shouted again together then and answered:
No. 18b: CHORUS
Not this one, rather Barabbas!
No. 18c: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Barabbas, though, was a murderer.
And Pilate then took Jesus and scourged him.
No. 19: ARIOSO
Observe now, O my soul,
with fearful satisfaction,
With bitter joy and heart half-gripped in anguish
Thy highest good in Jesus' torments:
For thee the thorns there which have pierced him
As keys to heaven's flowers bloom!
Thou canst pluck much sweet fruit from his most bitter wormwood,
So look unceasingly on him!
No. 20: ARIA
Consider how his back so stained with bleeding
In every portion doth heaven imitate,
on which, when once the waves and waters
From our own flood of sin have settled,
the world's most lovely rainbow, arching,
as God's own sign of blessing stands!
No. 21a: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And then the soldiers plaited him a crown out of thorns and set it upon his head and laid on him a purple robe and said:
No. 21b: CHORUS
Be thou greeted, gracious King of the Jews!
No. 21c: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And then with their hands they smote him. Then Pilate came again outside and said unto them:
PILATUS
Witness, I bring him out here unto you, that ye see clearly that I have no guilt found in him.
EVANGELIST
And thus came Jesus outside and wore both a crown of thorns and a purple robe. And he said unto them:
PILATUS
Behold, what a man!
EVANGELIST
But when the chief priests and their servants saw him, they cried out and said:
No. 21d: CHORUS
Crucify, crucify!
No. 21e: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Pilate said unto them:
PILATUS
Take him away yourselves and crucify him; for I find no guilt in him.
EVANGELIST
The Jews then replied unto him:
No. 21f: CHORUS
We have with us a law, and by this same law he should die; for he hath proclaimed himself the Son of God.
No. 21g: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And when Pilate heard what they had said, he was yet more afraid and went once more inside the praetorium and saith to Jesus:
PILATUS
From where art thou?
EVANGELIST
But Jesus gave to him no answer. Then spake Pilate unto him:
PILATUS
Speakest thou not with me? Dost thou not know I have power to crucify thee, and power to give thee thy freedom?
EVANGELIST
Jesus replied to him:
JESUS
Thou wouldst not have any power over me, if it had not been given unto thee from above; therefore, he who did hand me over to thee hath the greater sin.
EVANGELIST
From this time on did Pilate seek how he might release him.
No. 22: CHORALE
Through this thy prison, Son of God,
must come to us our freedom;
thy dungeon is the throne of grace,
the refuge of the righteous;
for hadst thou not borne servitude,
would we be slaves eternally.
(No. 23a-f)
No. 23g: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
He handed him over then to them, that he might be crucified. And they in turn took Jesus and led him away. And he bore his cross and went thenceforth to the place which is called the Place of Skulls, but whose name is called in Hebrew Golgotha.
No. 24: ARIA
Haste, ye, O sorely tempted spirits,
go forth from your torment's caverns,
haste - where to? - to Golgotha!
Put ye on of faith the pinions,
flee - Where to? - the cross's hilltop,
for your welfare bloometh there!
No. 25a: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And they crucified him there, and two others with him, one on either side, Jesus, though, between them. But Pilate wrote an inscription and set it upon the cross, and it was written, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” And this inscription was read by many Jews, for the city was not far from the place where Jesus was crucified. And it had been written in Hebrew, the Greek and the Latin language. And then spake the chief priests of the Jews unto Pilate:
No. 25b: CHORUS
Do not write: the King of the Jews, rather that he hath only said this: “I am the King of the Jews.”
No. 25c: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
But Pilate responded:
PILATUS
What I have written, that is what I have written.
No. 26: CHORALE
No. 27a-c
Interlude: Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott (BWV 721)
Benoït Mernier
No. 28: CHORAL
He of all did well take heed
In those final moments,
On his mother still intent,
Gave to her a guardian.
O man, ever do the right,
God and man love dearly,
Die then free of every pain
And yield not to sorrow!
No. 29. RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And from this hour the disciple took her to his own home. And then, as Jesus knew that everything had been accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled, he saith:
JESUS
I thirst!
EVANGELIST
There stood there a bowl full of vinegar. Then they took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and set it on a branch of hyssop, and held it forth to him, to his mouth. When now Jesus accepted the vinegar, he said:
JESUS
It is fulfilled!
No. 30: ARIA
It is fulfilled!
O hope for ev'ry ailing spirit!
The night of grief is now
its final hours counting.
The man of Judah wins with might
And ends the fight.
It is fulfilled!
No. 31. RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And he bowed his head and was dead.
No. 32: ARIA
My precious Savior, let me ask thee,
since thou upon the cross wast fastened and said thyself, "It is fulfilled,"
am I from dying been made free?
can I through this thy pain and dying the realm of heaven inherit? all the world's redemption here?
Thou canst in pain, indeed, say nothing;
But thou dost bow thy head And sayest in silence, "Yes."
Jesus, thou who suffered death,
Livest now forever,
In the final throes of death, nowhere other guide me
But to thee, redeemer mine, O thou, my dear master!
Give me just what thou hast earned,
More I cannot wish for!
No. 33: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
And now behold, the veil of the temple was parted in twain, from top down to the bottom rent. And the earth was filled with quaking, and the rocks split asunder, and the graves were opened wide, and there rose up the bodies of many saints.
No. 34: ARIOSO
My heart, since thus doth all the world
at Jesus' passion also suffer,
the sun itself in mourning cladeth,
the veil is rent, the rocks fall down,
the earth doth quake, the graves are parted,
or they behold grown cold their maker,
what wouldst thou for thy part now do?
No. 35: ARIA
O melt now, my bosom,
in rivers of weeping,
The Most High to honor!
Declare to the world and to heaven thy woe:
Thy Jesus is dead!
No. 36: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
The Jews, however, it being the Preparation, so that the body might not stay upon the cross on the Sabbath (for this Sabbath was a very high day), therefore asked of Pilate to let their legs be broken and to have them taken down. There came then the soldiers and broke the legs of the first one and the other one who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers opened up his side with a spear, and straightway came blood and water therefrom. And he who hath seen these things hath born witness thereof, and his witness is true, and this very man knows that he doth speak the truth, that ye believe it. For all these things took place so that the scripture might be accomplished, "Ye shall of him no bone have broken. Again another scripture doth say, "They will behold him whom they have piercéd."
No. 37: CHORALE
O help, Christ, O Son of God,
through thy bitter passion,
that we, who thee ever serve,
may avoid all error,
may thy death and its true cause Fruitfully consider,
for which, although poor and weak,
thee our thanks we offer!
No. 38: RECIT.
EVANGELIST
Then came unto Pilate Joseph of Arimathaea, who was was one of Jesus' disciples (but secretly, from fear of the, Jews) that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate allowed him to do it. Consequently, he came and took the body of Jesus away. But also there came Nicodemus, who had come in the night to Jesus once before, and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then they took away the body of Jesus and bound it up in linen cloths with the precious spices which the Jews are wont to use in burial. There was now in that same place where he had been crucified a garden, and the garden had a tomb, within which no one had ever been laid. Therein did they lay Jesus, since it was the Jews' Preparation, and since the tomb was nearby.
No. 39: CHORUS
Rest well, ye holy bones and members,
which I henceforth shall never weep for,
rest well and bring me, too, to rest!
The tomb which for you is assigned,
and henceforth no distress will hold,
doth open heav'n to me and shut the gates of hell.
No. 40: CHORALE
Ah Lord, let thine own angels dear
at my last hour my spirit bear to Abraham's own bosom,
my body in its simple bed in peace
without distress and dread
Rest till the day of judgment!
And then from death awaken me,
that with mine eyes I may see thee In fullest joy,
O God's own Son, my Savior and my gracious throne!
Lord Jesus Christ, give ear to me,
I would thee praise eternally!
Translation: Z. Philip Ambrose