2. Recitative T
He lives, and is risen from death!
On this lies the foundation, which as a rock
bears my firm faith to the hope of my future bliss.
I lamented his bonds in the garden,
which the envy and venom of the Enemy
laid upon Him through the betrayer;
my heart was also wounded,
when He received so many wounds
through the strike of the sharp whip;
I experienced so many pricks
with pain and misery,
when His Head was stuck with thorns
and wretchedly scratched;
I followed Him half-dead to Golgatha,
where He bore the burden and shame
of the Cross by Himself.
And cruelty itself nailed Him upon it;
my soul was full of anguish,
when they brought His body to the grave.
And all the grief came to a sorrowful end,
yet with His flowing blood
my tears of joy must flow together,
since He, through His death, wished to atone for my wretched guilt in my place.
However, I would be poorly comforted,
and not even fully redeemed,
if He had not, out of His own strength,
risen again.
But now the consolation is at hand,
and stands firm,
that even that last scrap has been paid for me,
and the law has nothing more to require of me;
For today God has released my obligation
from the grave, as if from prison,
free once more.