Above:  Dark Night

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Covenant Hymnal (1973), Evangelical Covenant Church of America

Original German Words (1670) by Johann Friedrich Hertzog (1647-1699)

English Translation (1947) by Gerhard W. Palmgren (1880-1959)

Note:  I found three Palmgren translations in The Covenant Hymnal (1973).  They were under copyright at the time of the publication of that volume.  Two of those translations appeared in the successor, The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996), with the copyright renewed that year.  This was not one of them.  Anyhow, I seek no financial gain by posting the words at this weblog.  If one seeks to sing the words to the designated tune, “Storl,” I recommend consulting The Covenant Hymnal (1973) or its 1950 predecessor.–KRT

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1.  Again a day has from us gone,

Gone ever from our sight;

Once more, its daily labors done,

Come peace and rest of night.

2.  Safe in thy keeping let me rest,

When daylight fades away;

With joyful praise thy name be blest

When dawns another day.

3.  But thou remainest, God of Grace,

Forevermore the same;

Thou all our nights and all our days

Didst number ere they came.

4.  And if death’s solemn call I hear,

While in my sleep I lie,

What comfort, Lord, that thou art near:

In thee I live and die.

Above:  St. Mary and Martha of Bethany Episcopal Church, Buford, Georgia

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

(https://plus.google.com/photos/114749828757741527421/albums/5809999763099999377/5810005412084850418?banner=pwa&pid=5810005412084850418&oid=114749828757741527421)

Original Danish Words by Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634-1703)

English Translation by Jens Christian Aaberg (1877-1970)

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home, Third Edition (1938), of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, denominations with Danish heritage

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/assembled-in-this-thy-house-danish-american-lutherans-1870-1962/

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1.  Softly now the day is ending,

Night o’er hill and vale descending;

I will kneel before Thee, Lord.

Unto Thee my thanks I render

That Thou didst, in mercy tender,

Life and peace to me accord.

2.  May Thy Church Thy peace inherit;

Guide our leaders by Thy Spirit;

Give our country strength and peace.

To the sinner, sad and dreary,

To each Christian, faint and weary,

Give Thou solace and surcease.

3.  Keep me, Jesus, while I slumber,

Free from perils without number;

Shield me, Master, in Thy might,

That, released from sin and sorrow,

I may sing this song tomorrow:

Jesus was my sun this night.

Above:  St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, Suwanee, Georgia, September 8, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original Danish Words by Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634-1703)

English Translation by the Reverend P. C. Paulsen (1881-1948)

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home, Third Edition (1938), of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, denominations with Danish heritage

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/assembled-in-this-thy-house-danish-american-lutherans-1870-1962/

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1.  The Sun arises now

In light and glory

And gilds the rugged brow

Of mountains hoary;

Be glad, my soul, and lift

Thy voice in singing

To God from earth below,

Thy heart with joy aglow

And praises ringing.

2.  Like countless grains of sand,

Beyond all measure,

And wide the sea and land

Is Heaven’s treasure

Of grace which God anew

Each day bestoweth,

And which like pouring rain

Into my soul again

Each morning floweth.

3.  He has throughout the night

My home surrounded

With angel hosts of light

And pow’r unbounded,

So I with mine did rest

In peaceful slumber

Until from deep repose

The day again arose

From darkness somber.

4.  Keep Thou my soul today

From sin and blindness,

Surround me on my way

With loving kindness,

And fill my heart, O God,

With joy from heaven,

I then shall ask no more

Than what Thou has of yore

In wisdom given.

Above:  St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Dalton, Georgia, June 15, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original German (1684) words by the Baron Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689)

English Translation (1866) by John Henry Hopkins, Jr. (1820-1891)

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home, Third Edition (1938), of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, denominations with Danish heritage

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/assembled-in-this-thy-house-danish-american-lutherans-1870-1962/

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1.  Dayspring of eternity,

Brightness of the Father’s glory,

Dawn on us that we may see

Clouds and darkness flee before Thee;

Drive afar, with conqu’ring might,

All our night.

2.  Let Thy grace, like morning dew,

Fall on hearts in Thee confiding;

Thy sweet comfort ever new,

Fill our souls with strength abiding,

And Thy quick’ning eyes behold

Thy dear fold.

Give the falme of love to burn

Till the hands of sin it breaketh,

Till, at each new day’s return,

Purer light my soul awaketh:

O ere twilight come, let me

Rise to Thee.

4.  Thou who hast gone up on high,

Grant that, when Thy trumpet soundeth,

When with glory, in the sky,

Thee Thy cloud of saints surroundeth,

We may stand among Thine own,

Round Thy throne.

5.  Light us to the golden shore,

O Thou rising Sun of morning!

Lead where tears shall flow no more,

Where all sighs to songs are turning,

Where Thy glory sheds alway

Perfect day.

Above:  Night, Between 1919 and 1920

Publisher and Copyright Claimant = Detroit Publishing Company

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994006529/PP/)

Reproduction Number = LC-D4-72241

Original Words by Samuel Olsen Bruun (1656-1694)

English Translation (1908) by Ole T. (Sanden) Arneson

http://www.hymnary.org/person/Arneson_OT

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home, Third Edition (1938), of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, denominations with Danish heritage

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/assembled-in-this-thy-house-danish-american-lutherans-1870-1962/

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1.  The sun has gone down,

And peace has descended on country and town,

The songbirds in silence have flown to their nest,

And flowers are closing their petals in rest;

So closes my heart to annoyance and care,

In homage and prayer.

2.  I praise for this day

The Father in heaven, who prospered my way,

Who shielded from danger, protected from harm,

Promoted my labor, and strenthen’d my arm;

For hours that passed lightly as birds on the wing,

Thanksgiving I bring.

3.  Forgive me, O Lord,

My sins and transgressions in deed and in word!

Thou knowest my heart and my innermost thought,

The words I have spoken, the deeds I have wrought;

My errors and failings I deeply regret;

Forgive and forget.

Above:  St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Dahlonega, Georgia, July 14, 2013

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original Danish Words by Hans Christensen Stehn (1540/1544-1610)

English Translation by the Reverend J. C. Aaberg (1877-1970)

Hymn Source = Hymnal for Church and Home, Third Edition (1938), of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church, denominations with Danish heritage

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/assembled-in-this-thy-house-danish-american-lutherans-1870-1962/

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1.  The gloomy night to morning yields,

And brightly the day is breaking;

The sun now ascends o’er woods and fields,

The birds are with songs awaking.

God lend us His counsel and speed our days,

With grace unceasing surround us

2.  The Lord be prais’d for evermore

That He hath His peace us given,

And, ever in grief and troubles sore,

Hath sent us His light from heaven.

God lend us His counsel and speed our days,

With grace unceasing surround us.

3.  On Easter morn, at break of day,

Our Lord from the grave ascended;

He open’d to life and light the way

And terrors of darkness ended.

God lend us His counsel and speed our days,

With grace unceasing surround us.

4.  Redeem us, Lord, from death’s strong hand,

Thy grace us from sin deliver,

Enlighten us till with Thine we stand,

And make us Thy servants ever.

God lend us His counsel and speed our days,

With grace unceasing surround us.

5.  Then shall with praise we seek repose

When day unto night has yielded,

And safe in Thine arms our arms we close

And rest by Thy mercy shielded.

God lend us His counsel and speed our days,

With grace unceasing surround us.

Above:  St. Simon’s Episcopal Church, Conyers, Georgia, September 9, 2012

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Hymn Source = Lutheran Service Book and Hymnal (1958)

Original German words by the Baron Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689)

English translation by Richard Massie (1800-1887)

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1.  Come, thou bright and morning star,

Light of light, without beginning,

Shine upon us from afar,

Like the morn when mists are thinning;

Drive away by thy clear light

Our dark night.

2.  Let thy grace, like morning dew

Falling on the barren places,

Comfort, quicken, and renew

All dry souls and dying graces;

Bless thy flock from thy rich store

Evermore.

3.  May thy fervent love destroy

All cold works, in us awaking

Ardent courage, zeal, and joy,

At the purple morn’s first breaking;

Life has set.

4.  Light us to the heavenly spheres,

Sun of grace, in glory shrouded;

Lead us through this vale of tears,

To the land where days unclouded,

Purest joy and perfect peace,

Never cease.

Christ Pantocrator Icon, 500s C.E.

Image in the Public Domain

English Translation from The Book of Common Prayer (1662), of The Church of England

Another translation is here.

I take some minor aspects of the text as poetry, not literal truth, but why quibble?–KRT

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We praise thee, O God: we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.

All the earth doth worship thee: the Father everlasting.

To thee all Angels cry aloud: the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.

To thee, Cherubin, and Seraphin: continually do cry,

Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty: of thy Glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles: praise thee.

The goodly fellowship of the Prophets: praise thee.

The noble army of Martyrs: praise thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world: doth acknowledge thee;

The Father: of an infinite Majesty;

Thine honourable, true: and only Son;

Also the Holy Ghost: the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory: O Christ.

When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man: thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death; thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God: in the Glory of the Father.

We believe that thou shalt come: to be our Judge.

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants: whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints: in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people: and bless thine heritage.

Govern them: and lift them up forever.

Day by day: we magnify thee:

And we worship thy Name: ever world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord: to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon his: have mercy upon us.

O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us; as our trust is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded.

Thomas Ken

Image in the Public Domain

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Thomas Ken (1637-1711), non-juring Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1685 to 1691, was among the earliest authors of English hymns distinct from those based on the Psalter.

Hymn Source = The Hymnal 1982, of The Episcopal Church

1.  All praise to thee, my God, this night,

for all the blessings of the light:

keep me, O keep me, King of Kings,

beneath thine own almighty wings.

2.  Forgive me Lord, for thy dear Son,

the ill that I this day have done;

that with the world, myself, and thee,

I ere I sleep at peace may be.

3.  O may my soul on thee repose,

and with sweet sleep mine eyelids close;

sleep that shall me more vigorous make

to serve my God when I awake.

4.  Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

praise him, all creatures here below;

praise him above, ye heavenly host;

praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.