Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen (For He shall give His angels charge),[1] MWV B 53,[2] is the incipit of a motet for an eight-part choir a cappella by Felix Mendelssohn.

Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen über dir, dass sie dich behüten auf allen deinen Wegen, dass sie dich auf den Händen tragen und du deinen Fuß nicht an einem Stein stoßest.

The German "behüten" is related to "hüten", the job of a shepherd, to guard and protect, captured in the English Guardian angel.

The first line is sung only by the four upper voices in homophony, beginning softly (piano) in steady walking rhythm, with an accent, in high pitch and by double length, on "Engeln" (angels).

[10] The motet was recorded in 2009 by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Daniel Reuss, among psalm settings by Mendelssohn and Cyrillus Kreek.

[11] The Chamber Choir of Europe recorded it to conclude a collection of Mendelssohn's choral works, conducted by Nicol Matt, in 2006.