Johann Sebastian Bach Salvation sure has come to man

Salvation sure has come to man,
God’s grace at last prevaileth;
without true faith no human plan,
no mortal work availeth;
true faith on Christ is founded fast,
from Christ flow all our blessings vast,
Christ’s mercy never faileth.

God gave to us the law, but we are all to weak,
With steady courage to obey it.
Thn paths of sin we ever seek,
and none is counted righteous;
our souls, by flesh contaminated
may not from sin be separated.
But we should all obey the law,
contrite, as if each in a mirror saw
how illbehaved his nature made him grow:
how loath his feeble strength to know.
By his own might is no man able his evil practices master,

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Es ist das Heil uns kommen her
von Gnad‘ und lauter Güte;
die Werk‘ die helfen nimmermehr,
sie mögen nicht behüten;
der Glaub‘ sieht Jesum Christum an,
der hat g‘nug für uns all getan,
er ist der Mittler worden.

Gott gab uns ein Gesetz,
doch waren wir zu schwach,
dass wir es hätten halten können.
Wir gingen nur den Sünden nach,
kein Mensch war fromm zu nennen;
der Geist blieb an dem Fleische kleben
und wagte nicht zu widerstreben.
Wir sollten im Gesetze gehen
und dort als wie in einem Spiegel sehn,
wie unsre Natur unartig sei:
und dennoch blieben wir dabei.

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Tobias Gebauer
Translation: John Coombs

The cantata for the 6th Sunday after Trinity Es ist das Heil uns kommen her BWV 9, belongs formally to the annual cycle of chorale cantatas of 1724/25, but it clearly dates from a time when Bach had long since completed most of his Leipzig repertoire of cantatas. It was probably written for 20 July 1732. The reason for this probably originated with a visit which Bach and his wife paid to Cöthen about 16 July 1724, so that no new cantata was composed for that Sunday. Bach did, however, keep the libretto, by an unknown author, so that he could set it to music when an opportunity arose, and the gap in his cycle of chorale cantatas was later filled by the present work. A further performance of it is known to have taken place during the last decade of Bach’s life.

The Gospel for the Sunday in question (Matt. 5:20–26) speaks, in words of the Sermon on the Mount, about Christian understanding of righteousness as being more important than outward compliance with worldly laws. On the basis of the Reformation hymn text of the same name by Paul Speratus (1523) the writer of the cantata fashioned a libretto which shows how consciousness of the

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