"Herzliebster Jesu" is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

 written in 1630 by Johann Heermann

Johann Heermann

Johann Heermann was a German poet and hymn-writer. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 26 October with Philipp Nicolai and Paul Gerhardt.- Life :...

 and based on . Its tune, also called "Herzliebster Jesu", was written ten years later by Johann Crüger

Johann Crüger

Johann Crüger was a German composer of well-known hymns.Crüger was born in Groß Breesen as the son of an innkeeper. He studied at the Lateinschule in Guben until 1613, after which he traveled to Sorau and Breslau and finally to Regensburg, where he received his first musical training from Paulus...

. The hymn first appeared in Crüger's Neues vollkömmliches Gesangbuch Augsburgischer Confession.

The tune has been arranged many times, including settings by J.S. Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

 (one of the Neumeister Chorales

Neumeister Chorales

Neumeister Chorales is the name commonly used for a recently discovered set of chorale preludes compiled by Johann Gottfried Neumeister . The manuscript was passed onto Christian Heinrich Rinck , whose library was bought by Lowell Mason in 1852...

 for organ, BWV 1093 and the St Matthew Passion) and Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

 (one of his Eleven Chorale Preludes

Eleven Chorale Preludes

The Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122, are a collection of chorale preludes for organ by Johannes Brahms, composed in 1896, and published posthumously in 1902....

 for organ, Op.122: No.2). Also Max Reger

Max Reger

Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...

's "Passion", No. 4 from Seven Pieces for Organ, Op. 145 (1915–1916) ends in this melody.

The original German first verse (of fifteen total verses) is as follows:

Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen,

Daß man ein solch scharf Urteil hat gesprochen?

Was ist die Schuld? In was für Missetaten

Bist du geraten?

The standard English first verse (of five):

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,

That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?

By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,

O most afflicted.

A more accurate alternative translation in modern English from the Choral Niagara website is

Beloved Jesus, what have you done wrong

that they have pronounced so hard a sentence?

What is your guilt, into what sort of misdeeds

have you fallen?