1. Sinfonia



2. Chorus

We must through much tribulation enter

into the kingdom of God.



3. Aria

I desire to go to heaven,

wicked Sodom, you and I

are henceforth through with each other.

My abode is not here,

for never more shall I

live with you in peace.



4. Recitative

Ah! to be in heaven now!

How this evil world oppresses me!

With weeping I rise,

with weeping I go to bed,

how treacherously they lie in wait for me!

Mark this, O Lord,

they hate me, and with no cause,

as though the world had the power

to kill me utterly;

and though I live with patience

and sighs,

forsaken and despised,

yet the world derives from my sorrow

the greatest pleasure.

My God, that is hard to bear.

Ah! would that I,

my Jesus, even today,

were with Thee in heaven!



5. Aria

I sow my tears

with anxious heart.

Yet my heart’s distress

will bear me glory

on the day of the blessed harvest.



6. Recitative

I am prepared

to bear my cross with patience;

I know that all my sufferings

are not worthy to be compared with the

splendour that God shall reveal

to His chosen throng and me.

I weep now, when the tumult of the world

seems glad at my sorrow.

Soon the time will come

when my heart shall rejoice,

and the world weep

without a Comforter.

He who struggles against

and fights the foe

shall be crowned;

for you do not get carried by God

to heaven.



7. Aria

How I shall rejoice

and be refreshed,

when all passing

torment is over!

Then shall I gleam like stars

and shine like the sun,

and my heavenly bliss

shall not be disturbed

by grieving,

howling and shouting.



8. Chorale

Rejoice greatly, o my soul,

and forget all misery and torment

since Christ your Lord

calls you from this valley of misery!

From affliction and sorrow

you will journey to the joy

no ear has ever heard

that awaits you in eternity.