I am stained as scarlet, Yet Christ is my washing white ...

Have mercy, O Lord.

Have mercy, O Christ, and be gracious to me.

Surely my heart has cause to despair

If I but inventory myself and my doing.

I am lost,

Yet Christ is my being found.

I am in bondage to sin,

Yet Christ is my salvation, free and eternal.

I am surely weak,

Yet Christ is my strength even in weakness.

I am most impoverished and needy,

Yet Christ is my unsearchable and eternal riches of heaven. 

I am stained as scarlet,

Yet Christ is my washing white as wool by His blood.

I am darkness,

Yet Christ is my light and my life.

I am sin and I keep on sinning,

Yet Christ is my sin so that I am His righteousness.

I am dead,

Yet Christ is my resurrection and everlasting life.

Have mercy Lord,

Keep me in the baptismal union You have made with me,

Keep me in the Words of eternal life You speak to me,

Keep me in the one true faith to which You have called me by the Gospel,

And keep me as the apple of Your eye.

Have mercy, O Lord,

Have mercy, O Christ and be gracious to me,

For I am in You and You are in me,

To the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

pmwl