Choir for 4 voices
Tenor solo
Bass solo
Travers flute
Oboe
Oboe d`amore
Violin solo
Violin I + II
Viola
Basso continuo

I'll not let thee go, thou must bless me first.





I shall hold to my Jesus firmly,
I'll let him never from me go.
He is alone my sure abode,
Thus is my faith now fixed with might
Upon his saving countenance;
For this support shall have no equal.

My dearest Jesus thou,
When I must stress and trouble suffer,
Then art thou my true pleasure,
In unrest my true rest,
When I'm afraid, my bed of comfort.
The fickle world is never true,
E'en heaven age must suffer,
The world's delights are lost like chaff;
If I did not, my Jesus, have thee,
To whom could I besides thee hold to?
Thus I shall never let thee go,
Thy blessing, then, shall bide with me.

Yes, yes, I hold to Jesus firmly,
Thus shall I e'en to heaven go,
Where God and his own lamb's invited
In crowns are at the wedding feast.
There I'll not leave, my Savior, thee
Where bides thy blessing, too, with me.
Ah, what delight
To me is my death's casket,
For Jesus in my arms doth lie!
Then can my soul with joy rest fully!
Yes, yes, I'll hold to Jesus firmly,
Thus shall I e'en to heaven go!
O land so fair!
Come, gentle death, and lead me hence,
Where God and his own lamb's invited
In crowns are at the wedding feast.
I am so glad
The suff'ring of this time
From me today to put aside now;
For Jesus waits for me in heaven with his blessing.
There I'll not leave, my Savior, thee
Where bides thy blessing, too, with me.

This my Jesus I'll not leave,
I'll forever walk beside him;
Christ shall let me more and more
To the springs of life be guided.
Blessed those who say with me:
This my Jesus I'll not leave.

Malachi 3: 1-4

Luke 2: 22-32