Recitative. They preach vain, cunning falsehoods | They preach vain, cunning falsehoods

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall

Recitativo. Sie lehren eitel falsche...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Sie lehren eitel falsche List,
Was wider Gott und seine Wahrheit ist;
Und was der eigen Witz erdenket,
- O Jammer! der die Kirche schmerzlich kränket -
Das muss anstatt der Bibel stehn.
Der eine wählet dies, der andre das,
Die törichte Vernunft ist ihr Kompass;
Sie gleichen denen Totengräbern
Die, ob sie zwar von außen schön,
Nur Stank und Moder in sich fassen
Und lauter Unflat sehen lassen.

Text Authorship:

by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750), "Recitativo. Sie lehren eitel falsche List", BWV 2 no. 2 (1724) [ tenor and continuo ], from cantata Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , "Recitative. They preach vain, cunning falsehoods", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-28
Line count: 11
Word count: 67

Recitative. They preach vain, cunning falsehoods

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

They preach vain, cunning falsehoods,
Which oppose God and His truth;
And anything their own mind conceives,
O woe! - which grievously harms the church –
That must be preferred instead of the Bible.
One person chooses this, another that,
Foolish reason is their guide;
They are the like graveyards
That, although they are outwardly beautiful,
Only contain foulness and decay
And are rife with filth.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Michael P Rosewall, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-02-18
Line count: 11
Word count: 65