Written by me, your beloved brother in the Lord.
O dear friends, fear not, neither be surprised, when you are tried by manifold temptations which may come upon a Christian, and also do come upon him in bonds and imprisonment, as I now find, it is grievous according to the flesh, but very light according to the spirit, for it is the power of God. This I have experienced in these bonds, that the Lord is with those that seek and fear him from the heart. Hence, my dear friends, who have received like faith with me, fear the Lord from the heart, that if it should be the Lord’s will to have you here in such bonds or imprisonment, you may be able to withstand, for they employ much craftiness and subtlety, to draw us away from the truth, and they know how to exalt lies, and abolish truth, with feigned words of their own devising: sometimes with very gentle words, and sometimes with harsh ones, by which they think to weaken and discourage one, as they have done with me. And also Satan, as Peter says, walketh about us as a roaring lion, seeking where he can devour us; so he has also assailed me, but the Lord has hitherto kept me, for which I thank him. But Satan once assailed me with a temptation which I must write to you, to show you how crafty the evil One is. I once spake with a priest, who reviled us and said that they sang the psalms of David, while we sang hymns which men had made. And when I came back into prison, the tempter very craftily assailed me, that it was true, that we did sing hymns which men had made. And I was grieved that I should suffer, and it might be wrong, and I was still young in years, and it grieved me much. Finally I thought: I know better; I know that the hymns are made from the holy Scriptures, and that it is right; if I could do according to them, I should be saved. Then I reflected on the priest’s walk, and on their faith, and on the things which they had spoken against the holy Scriptures, which are lies, and I entreated the Lord, and it entered my mind no more. Hence, dear friends, Satan is very crafty; but we must always pray the Lord in every assault which he makes upon us, in manifold temptations, for the almighty, eternal, merciful God will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, as he has spoken (1 Cor. 10:13); for he is our Captain, our Champion in all our distress. And do not fear though they place me at the stake, and burn me; but be strengthened thereby, that the Lord is still so powerful in his works; and always fear him, and praise him, and thank him, now and forever. Amen.
I further thank those who sent me that book, for it delighted and rejoiced me much in the Lord; and I commend all of you who fear him to the Lord.