O Lord, preserve (from this murderer) thy pilgrims who walk in the hope of thee, and expect their help and comfort from thee alone. O heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, preserve us that thou mayest perform the good work which thou hast begun in us, to the praise and glory of thy holy name. O thou Almighty and everlasting God, how utterly incomprehensible is thy grace and fatherly mercy upon those that fear and love thee. O Father, who should not fear such a God, who knows how to deliver his own; though they may seem to be forsaken here for a little season, despised of all men, rejected and cursed on this earth; yet he does not forsake his own through the consolation of his Holy Spirit in our hearts, who makes us bold and joyful, that we may suffer reproach for his name. And we hope through the goodness of God; that our pilgrimage will soon end, and we shall be delivered from this miserable world and vale of tears, and that this earthly house of our tabernacle will be dissolved, that we may be brought home to our heavenly Father, and receive the crown of everlasting life, which is set before us, and which we hope no creature shall take from us. To this end, may the Almighty and eternal God, the merciful Father, strengthen us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dear friends, let me tell you, how it went with me before my imprisonment, and how they treated us after my imprisonment.
At the time when the four friends concerning whom I composed the hymn, and whose burning I witnessed, were offered up, I heard it stated that they had assailed the friends who yet remained in prison, with great cunning and deception, through the advice of the false prophets, whose minds are constantly filled with the subtlety of the devil, even as they had boasted that they would do. Our friends that remained there, were two lads and a girl, for whom we daily very diligently prayed the Lord, fearing, lest they might by some means be moved from the faith. We daily expected that they would also be put to death, and because of their youth I was impelled in my heart to station myself at the scaffold, when they were to be put to death, in order that, if they should be troubled on any account, I might comfort them, and also reprove the monks, who greatly distress and vex our friends when they are led to death. But, alas! the poor children did not get so far; for they imprudently allowed themselves to be drawn into disputations with the false prophets, though they had been sufficiently warned to beware of it as they valued their souls; for it is not given to every one to dispute, but boldly to confess the faith. This when received from the Lord, well becomes Christians.
But when these poor lambs engaged in controversy, they became perplexed in their consciences, and apostatized from the truth, which gave the false prophets cause for great boasting, since they had won their souls, and brought them back to the holy church. When I heard this, my soul and spirit were greatly grieved on account of the loss of the poor sheep, and because the false prophets, and also the councilors gloried so much in the fall and destruction of the poor lambs and children, whom they had driven to this by adjuring them as you shall hear in the sequel.
Being thus sorrowful, I sighed and complained to God over the violence and power of the devil, which he exerts through the children of unbelief. Then the thought came to me, to write a few letters—for the purpose of informing them in several places—reprehending their vain joy over the loss of the poor lambs whose souls they had murdered. I then began to write, and while thus engaged, my soul was so kindled, that what I had intended to be a little letter of a hand-breadth, became a letter of a whole leaf. The Lord opened my understanding, so that in a wonderful manner I proved to the lords, by references to the Scriptures, their punishment with the whole Roman Empire and its end. In the letter I wrote, that I desired and requested liberty publicly to dispute with all their learned men, in the presence of a great fire, into which the defeated party should be cast; also, that they should let the poor lambs in peace, and that they should leave the sword to the secular power, and contend with the word of God.
Having completed this letter, I showed it to the brethren, who were well pleased with it. I then had a brother, who was a better writer than I, make six copies of it. In the meantime, the poor, ruined lambs were released from prison, and recanted everything. One of the lads died the same day on which he came out, a league from the city, and thus became an example to those who seek to save their life.
At the time that this occurred I came with Hansken Keeskooper from Antwerp, and we made all our arrangements for the disposing of our letters. On Saturday evening we sent the letters to the lords of the city, and also posted two open ones in the middle of the city, that every one might read them. We greatly praise and thank the Lord, that we did this before we were apprehended: for we were all betrayed by a Judas, who was among us, and who seemed to be one of the most pious of all the brethren that were there, so successfully could he practice his deception. It had long been his aim, as we now perceive, to betray a large number of the friends. This traitor was present when the letters were posted. We had appointed to meet together on Sunday morning, to speak of the word of the Lord; for I desired to take leave of the brethren, intending to go on a journey the next day. But the Lord be praised, who had ordered it otherwise. Early in the morning, Hansken went with me to the woods where we were to assemble. We did not find our friends at the place where we expected to meet them. We hunted for them a good half-hour, and came to the conclusion that they had not yet come, as there had been a heavy rain the evening before. We were about to turn back, when I said: “Let us go; they may be here ahead of us,” and sang softly; that, if they were there, they might hear us. I then heard a rustling in the woods, and said to Hansken: “Our friends are here.” We stood still, and looked to see who should come out. Then three men with weapons and sticks came forth.
I said: “Well, boys, have you been hunting a hare, and have not caught it?”
Their faces turned pale as death, and they stepped up to us, and seized me by the arm, saying: “Surrender.”
Thus they apprehended us, saying: “We have caught a great number besides.”