Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir (Out of the depths I call, Lord, to You),[1] BWV 131,[a] is a church cantata by the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

A note on the autograph score of the cantata indicates that the work was commissioned by Georg Christian Eilmar, minister of the Marienkirche (St. Mary's church) in Mühlhausen.

One service there which Bach would have attended was that for the city council's inauguration in 1708 during which his cantata Gott ist mein Konig, BWV 71 had its premiere.

[3] Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir has been described as possibly Bach's first surviving cantata.

[6] Recent scholarship suggests that another surviving cantata Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150 could have been composed at Arnstadt.

The incipit of the psalm, "Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir", gives the cantata its name.

The anonymous librettist, possibly Eilmar,[9] includes in two of the movements verses from "Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut", a Lutheran hymn by Bartholomäus Ringwaldt.

Bach later used it as the basis for the cantata Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut, BWV 113, where the words form a counterpart to the tax collector's prayer in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, the gospel reading for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity.

[8] Bach's ability as a composer was recognised by the city council of Muhlhausen who paid for the printing of the cantata Gott ist mein Konig, BWV 71.

Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir was first published in 1881 as part of the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe, the first complete edition of Bach's works.

He scored it for two soloist (tenor and bass), a four-part choir, and a small Baroque instrumental ensemble of oboe (Ob), bassoon (Fg), violin (Vl), two violas (Va), and basso continuo.

[21] Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background.