O Jesus, Lamb of God, Thou Art

O Jesus, Lamb of God, Thou art
The Life and Comfort of my heart.
A sinner poor I come to Thee
And bring my many sins with me.

O God, my sin indeed is great;
I groan beneath the dreadful weight;
Be merciful to me, I pray;
Take guilt and punishment away.

Saint John the Baptist points to Thee
And bids me cast my sin on Thee;
For Thou hast left Thy throne on high
To suffer for the world and die.

Help me to mend my ways, O Lord,
And gladly to obey Thy Word.
While here I live, abide with me;
And when I die, take me to Thee.

Author: Nicolaus Decius

Year: 1522

This is an English translation of the German hymn "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" (or a close variant). The original German text is traditionally attributed to Nicolaus Decius (c. 1485–1541), who both translated and adapted it from the Latin Agnus Dei. Some sources note possible earlier medieval roots or alternate attributions to writers like Justus Jonas, but Decius is the most common attribution for the 16th-century Lutheran version.