Adieu, my only daughter; your beloved father shall be crowned a king by our dear Lord. Hence be resigned and be an obedient daughter, and diligently read the holy Scriptures. Live according to them, and we shall meet again and rejoice forever, without end. Amen.
Finished on the fourth day of March, A. D. 1572, by me, your dear husband, imprisoned for the testimony of the Gospel of Christ, to the praise of God. Amen.
I salute you cordially in the Lord with the love and peace that shall endure forever.
The unfathomable grace and mercy of our heavenly Father, the abundant love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the co-operation of his Holy Spirit, always be multiplied to you beloved, my chosen on earth, for consolation on your pilgrimage, for the steadfastness and confirmation of your faith, to the praise of God, and to the salvation of your soul; that you may always be a light in this world, and also edify your dear, only daughter, and your neighbor, in that which is good; so that you may always be like unto fruit-bearing branches, for to this are all believers appointed. If another decreases and becomes weary, do you constantly increase, and let your increasing become manifest before God and men, knowing that the good works will follow you; and it will be an ornament to your wedding garment when you shall appear before the supreme Bridegroom; when the slothful, the sleepers--who are sufficiently awake to seek that which is perishable only too much--shall stand naked, then you shall be gloriously appareled.
Therefore, my dearest sister above all men, weary not, though you must still walk in this pilgrimage; always trim and fill your lamp in simplicity with oil, and keep it constantly burning, and thus with patience wait for your Comforter the Bridegroom. Then he shall for a little season of faithfulness bid you a glorious and joyful welcome; for he has opened the way, for you and all believers, who use diligence, and add to their faith, virtue; to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, temperance; to temperance, patience; to patience, godliness; to godliness, brotherly kindness; to brotherly kindness, charity. If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Hence Peter further admonishes: Wherefore the rather give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things (mark), ye shall never fall (mark still more): for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 1:5–11.
O it is very evident from this, how one falls, and how one gets into the way of life; hence, diligence is a good thing. For David says: “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently!” Psalm 119:4. And Paul says: “Be not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit.” Rom. 12:11. He further writes: These things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God may excel in good works. Tit. 3:8.
O how well it goes when one heeds this! He further also says: O that it were the will of God, that those whom I have instructed might minister to the furtherance of the truth of the Gospel, and become diligent in the works of eternal life. O they who lay to heart these divine Scriptures of admonition and warning, will not easily grow weary; when others will halt, they will go on with a faithful heart, as long as they can draw breath, and constantly make no account of what they do, because of the divine nature that is in them, which love is without measure. Namely, when one considers in his heart, that Christ, by his great agony of death made us dead men alive, and delivered us from the power of the devil, and translated us into the kingdom of Christ; that he has taken and chosen us poor sinners from so many thousands, and enlightened us. When they shall go into eternal fire, we shall go into everlasting joy, and our vile body shall be like unto Christ’s glory. O who can tell that great joy which shall endure forever? Every one who truly tastes said love and goodness of God does not easily weary in well doing; the same, Paul also says, shall reap without ceasing. Gal. 6:9. And Christ says: “A good tree bringeth forth good fruit.” Matt. 7:17. He also says: “They that have done good shall arise unto the resurrection of eternal life.” John 5:29; Dan. 12:2. O my very dear and beloved wife, though I must now leave you, and see you no more, yet by the grace of the Lord I hope to see you in the resurrection, but with a glorious and incorruptible body. Therefore, my dearest lamb, always go on in virtue, according to your ability, as I trust with all my heart, my dearest, you will do. Hold fast the truth wherein you stand through the grace of God; for it is the right truth, and there shall no other be found: of this I am sure in my heart. Hence be firmly rooted therein, that you may be able to stand against all tempests, and not fall through persecution, or through being robbed of your goods, or your beloved, nor through false Christs, of whom, alas! there are many abroad, who disturb and deceive many hearts and minds, under the semblance of truth, which is adulterated by them; so that much bitterness has sprung up, and love has waxed cold in a very great measure.