Herr Dein Wort die edle Gabe
Diesen Schatz erhalte mir
Denn ich zieh es aller Habe
Und dem größten Reichthum für
Wenn dein Wort nicht mehr soll gelten
Worauf soll der Glaube ruhn
Mir ist nicht um Tausend Welten
Sondern um Deine Wort zu thun.

In unsern Bibel steht um und um
Christi der Lehre Hauptpunkt und Summ
In der Alten und Neuen
Geist Jesu drücke diese darin an verfaßten Stücke In alle Herz.

Jesus ist mein Leben und Sterben
ist mein Gewin.
Der Herr ist mein.
Ihm will ich Todt und Lebendig sein.


Lord Your Word, the precious Gift
As a treasure I receive.
For I give up all of my possessions
And the greatest riches to have it.
If Your Word were no longer effective
On what should belief (faith) rest?
I would give up a thousand worlds,
But to do Your Word.

In our Bible it points out again and again,
That Christ is the chief teaching point and summation
In the Old and New [Testament].
Spirit of Jesus imprint these in written pieces
In every heart.

Jesus is my life and death
is my gain.
The Lord is mine.
I will be His in dying and living.

[Transliterated and translated by David Goeke]

The above German hymn verse is found inscribed on the page opposite the personal inscription from Johann Kilian to his son Gerhard, found in this volume of Dr. Martin Luther’s Church Sermons. It is the first verse of the hymn “Herr dein Wort die edle Gabe.” It was written by Nicolaus Ludwig, Graf von Zinzendorf. “Zinzendorf, Count Nicolaus Ludwig, the founder of the religious community of Herrnhut and the apostle of the United Brethren, was born at Dresden May 26, 1700. It is not often that noble blood and worldly wealth are allied with true piety and missionary zeal. Such, however, was the case with Count Zinzendorf. Spener, the father of Pietism, was his godfather; and Franke, the founder of the famous Orphan House, in Halle, was for several years his tutor. In 1731 Zinzendorf resigned all public duties and devoted himself to missionary work. He traveled extensively on the Continent, in Great Britain, and in America, preaching ‘Christ, and him crucified,’ and organizing societies of Moravian brethren. John Wesley is said to have been under obligation to Zinzendorf for some ideas on singing, organization of classes, and Church government. Zinzendorf was the author of some two thousand hymns. Many of them are of little worth, but a few are very valuable, full of gospel sweetness and holy fervor. He died at Herrnhut May 6, 1760. —Hymn Writers of the Church by Charles Nutter”

This hymn, for instance, didn’t come into common usage until about 1862. See the following link: https://www.hymnary.org/text/herr_dein_wort_die_edle_gabe.
The following is a rendition of how the hymn sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22-XUIE_Qjo.

Insofar as I can tell, the words have not yet been set into an English metric / rhyming setting. Above right is a non-metric, non-rhyming prose translation of the words.

David Goeke, Wendish Research Exchange


Serbin Texas am 10then August 1969

Zu Gerhard August Kilian, Addison, Ills

Mein geliebten Sohn!
Dein Mutter und ich wollten dir einstmals mit einem Geschenke eine Freude machen. Ich fragte darum bei dir an, was wir dir nach Addison senden sollten. Da schriebst du uns zurück, das liebste wurde dir sein ein schönes Buch.

Das schönste Buch in der Welt ist nach der Bibel D. Martin Luther’s Kirchen Postilla. Diese empfängst du hiermit al ein Geschenk von deinem dich liebenen Vater.

Johann Kilian, Pastor

[Transliterations by David Goeke]

Serbin, Texas, the 10th of August, 1869

To Gerhard August Kilian, Addison, Illinois

My dear son,
Your mother and I wanted to give a gift to you that would bring you joy. I asked, therefore, what we should send you in Addison, Illinois. Then you wrote in return that most of all you would like a beautiful book.

The most beautiful book in the world, after the Bible, is Dr. Martin Luther’s Church Sermons. This you are, herewith, receiving as a gift from you loving father.

Johann Kilian, Pastor

[Translations by David Goeke]