He Bore Our Anguish

It was not the Jews, Lord Jesus, who crucified you,
Nor the traitors who dragged you to the law,
Nor the contemptuous who spit in your face
Nor those who bound you, and hit you full of wounds,
And it was not the soldiers who with evil hands
Lifted up the reed, or the hammer,
Or set that cursed wood on Golgotha.
Or cast lots and gambled for your robe;
It is I, O Lord, it is I who have done it,
I am the heavy tree that overburdened you,
I am the rough bands that bound you,
The nail, the spear, and the cords that whipped you,
The bloodied crown that tore your head:
All this happened, alas! for my sins.