Text: St. John Passion, BWV 245

J.S. Bach (1685–1750)

Part I

Betrayal and Capture (John 18:1–14)

Peter's Denial (John 18:15–27, Matthew 26:75)

Part II

Interrogation and Flagellation (John 18:28–40, 19:1)

Condemnation and Crucifixion (John 19:2–22)

The Death of Jesus (John 19:23–30)

Burial (Matthew 27:51–52, John 19:31–42)

Translation: Robert Coote, Nathaniel Gray Professor of Hebrew Exegesis and Old Testament, San Francisco Theological Seminary and Graduate Theological Union

The translator wishes to acknowledge two translations from which phrases have been drawn: (1) by Michael Marissen of Swarthmore College, to appear in Marissen, Bach’s Oratorios: The Parallel German-English Texts, with Annotations (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) and kindly supplied by the author, and (2) by Leslie King, whose exceptionally adept rendering appeared in the program the last time the San Francisco Bach Choir performed this piece, in March 1996.