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Mein Füßen ist dein heilges Wort
Ein brennende Luzerne,
Ein Licht, das mir den Weg weist fort;
So dieser Morgensterne
In uns aufgeht, so bald versteht
Der Mensch die hohen Gaben,
Die Gottes Geist den g'wiß verheißt,
Die Hoffnung darein haben.
For my feet your holy word
is a blazing lantern,
a light that shows me the way forward;
as this morning Star
rises upon us we understand
the great gifts
that God's spirit has certainly promised to us,
and in these we have our hope.
This chorale is part of the Orgelbüchlein (“Little Organ Book”) by Johann Sebastian Bach, a compilation of chorale preludes for the organ composed between 1708 and 1717, based on chorale tunes to serve each part of the liturgical year and/or to provide religious instruction. BWV 637 is one of the “catechism” chorales, the title translating as “Through Adam’s fall everything is corrupted”.