A firm fortress is our God, a good defence and weapon;
He helps us free from all our troubles which have now befallen us.
The old evil enemy, he is now seriously going to work;
Great power and much cunning are his cruel equipments,
There is none like him on the earth.
2.
With our own strength nothing can be done, we are very soon lost;
For us the right man is fighting, whom God himself has chosen.
Do you ask, who he is? His name is Jesus Christ,
The Lord Jehovah, and there is no other God;
He must hold the field.
3.
And if the world were full of devils, ready to devour us,
We are by no means much afraid, for finally we must overcome
The prince of this world, however badly he may behave,
He cannot injure us, and the reason is, because he is judge;
A little word can lay him low.
4.
That word they shall suffer to remain, and not to be thanked for either;
He is with us in the field, with his Spirit and his gifts.
If they take from us body, property, honor, child and wife,
Let them all be taken away, they have yet no gain from it,
The kingdom of heaven must remain to us.
[The above if from a hymn book A. D. 1741. In one printed in 1826, and now in use in Pennsylvania, the following is added:]
5.
Praise, honor and glory to the Highest God, the Father of all Mercy.
Who has given us out of love His Son, for the sake of our defects,
Together with the Holy Spirit. He calls us to the Kingdom;
He takes away from us our sins, and shows us the way to heaven;
May He joyfully aid us. Amen.