Another Letter from Hendrick Verstralen to his Wife

O my dearest wife, my flesh, my bone, my dear friend, my lamb, not on my heart, but in my heart, and from now on my poor widow, whom I must leave according to the pleasure, goodness, will and counsel of God, who has seen fit that I should, according to His pleasure, lie in bonds here for the sake of His eternal truth, which, my dear wife and sister in the Lord, I hope by the grace of God to seal with my death, to pay now the obedience which we owe to God, that is, the denying of ourselves, so that we may love nothing above Him, neither father, nor mother, nor wife, nor child, nor our own life; or God threatens us with His eternal judgment. He who loves anything more than me cannot be my disciple, much less my son; and those who are not sons are bastards, who shall have neither part nor inheritance with God. Ephesians 5, verse 5. And this is the reason, my dear wife, that though you and my little children lie so deeply in my heart, you must, against my nature, be cast out of it; for you may not be an idol to me, nor I to you, as much as we love our dearly bought souls. First Corinthians 6, verse 20. So know by this, my dearest wife, that I will commend you and my little children to the great, almighty and eternal God, who is rich in mercy over all those who fear and love Him, that through His goodness and great power He will bring you to the eternal, glorious and undefiled inheritance among all those who are sanctified. The God of all comfort, and Father of all grace, who is called the true Father in heaven or on earth, may He grant you, my dear wife, Janneken Verstralen, that through His unfathomable mercy, and immeasurable goodness, and the riches of His grace, you may be strengthened by His Holy Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ, His blessed Son, may dwell in your heart by faith (Ephesians 3, verses 16 and 17), so that you, my love, may be clothed with the cloak of righteousness and have the loins of your mind girded about with the girdle of truth, and the bond of love (chapter 6, verse 14; Colossians 3, verse 14); indeed, that the basket of grapes and the bundle of myrrh may hang between both your breasts, in your heart, namely, Christ Jesus, by whom you may be preserved from the pestilence that walks in darkness (Psalm 91, verse 6), and so shine with an eternal crown, as a daughter born of royal seed, the living Word of God, and may gain the victory of a good fight: may this be done to the praise and glory of the almighty God, and to the salvation of your soul. Amen.

This I, Hendrick Verstralen, your husband, prisoner in the Lord for the sake of the eternal truth and the testimony of Christ, send to you, my beloved wife and sister in the Lord, as a greeting and good wish of my heart, and as my last adieu. Adieu my dearest on earth; adieu, sister in the Lord. Oh, strong is the truth; it conquers all things. First Esdras 4, verse 35. O my own rib, who are taken out of the middle of my body, how should I not love you, you my wife, who love my soul more than my body, as I understand from your letter, which is a great joy to me, and a lasting comfort; I have read it with many tears. I thank you much, my lamb, for your earnest care for me. I further ask you, my dear wife, whom I have wedded honorably before God and His church, now that our parting is at hand, help us and all the God-fearing to pray and plead with God for a little while yet, until Maeyken, our dear sister, and I your husband, who are now still in our greatest conflict, under the bloody banner which Christ, the author of faith and chief Captain, has borne Himself in the midst of His saints, that with Him we may through our death overcome our enemies, with God nail our flag to the mast, and with peace and rest enter into our chambers (Isaiah 26, verse 20), and wait for the coming of our Lord, who will through His grace raise us up from the earth to life eternal. And, my dear lamb, my flesh, my blood, be patient in your tribulation; continue now with Judith and Anna the prophetess steadfast in prayer, serving your God day and night, in the house of the Lord, which is His church. See, my dear wife, I hope that you will follow Paul's advice (First Corinthians 7, verse 32), now that you are unmarried; that you will serve the Lord unhindered, and seek to please Him, and to be holy in soul and body. Listen, my wife, my dearest love on earth, follow my advice for the Lord's sake; go and sell all that you can spare, which is little, and live as plainly as possible, for a widow can get along with very little; and seek an honorable, quiet girl who does not keep company with youthful companions; and flee youthful lusts, and do the best with my little children. The Lord will care for you; He who gives the wild donkey his food in the wilderness, when he cries for thirst, and who feeds the young ravens that cry to God, as David says (Psalm 147, verse 9), will also feed you, my dear lamb, when you, my widow, my chosen lamb, will cry to God with my young orphans. Though your tears fall here on earth, they shall not cease until they pierce the clouds and appear before God. Then you will find consolation, as David says: "The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles; indeed, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him from the heart." Psalm 34, verses 17 and 7.

O my dear wife, think of the words of Paul: The time is short; I would gladly spare you; those who are married must be as though they were not. First Corinthians 7, verse 29. So, my dear sister in the Lord, Janneken Verstralen, the end of all things is now at hand, says Peter; the heavens shall be rolled together, and pass away as smoke, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. First Peter 4, verse 7; Revelation 6, verse 14; Second Peter 3, verse 10. O what kind of person you ought then to be, in all holy and chaste conduct. Second Peter 3, verse 11. O my dear wife, these words have sometimes terrified me because of my wicked, evil-desiring flesh, which clings about me; but I comforted myself with this, that God would refine me by chastisement in the fire of affliction, and so be gracious to me; for I have loved His truth, though weakness clung to me. So I will now say with the prophet Micah: "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." Micah 7, verse 9. And with Sirach: "I will rather fall into the hands of the Lord, than into the hands of men; for his mercy is as great as he himself is." Sirach 2, verse 18. He forgives sin, and helps in distress. Psalm 32, verse 5. So, my dear wife, be patient in the tribulation that is upon us both; confess with Judith that our punishment is less than our sins. Judith 8, verse 27. And He helps in distress; for he who humbles himself before the Lord, and confesses and forsakes his sins, shall obtain mercy; but he who covers them shall not prosper. Proverbs 28, verse 13. But if we confess our sins to the Lord, it is God who forgives them, for we have a free and open fountain for sin and uncleanness, as Zechariah says, that is, Christ Jesus, who has bought us with His precious blood; for the blood of our dear Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sins. See, my dearest wife, though the sufferings of Christ now abound in us, so our consolation abounds much more through Christ, that through His innocent death we shall have eternal life, if we remain steadfast in the fear of God to the end, as I hope through the grace of God to do. And I also ask you, my Janneken Verstralen, my lamb, my love, that you will do so, and will remain an honorable widow, in prayer and supplication to God (First Timothy 5, verse 5), and in holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12, verse 14); until you also are taken away by the Lord. O my dearest love on earth, [in] my fatherly heart, yours and my little children's, I wish you much good for the soul. There are three of my little lambs with the Lord, and I hope through God's grace soon to be the fourth. O my dear wife, that I might, through the grace and power of God, be burned alive twice in a pitch barrel, for you four who must remain behind, and you should now go with me to the Lord into rest! What joy it would be to my fatherly heart, if I were sure of the salvation of you all. Written with many scalding tears. This I ask of you, my dearest wife, that you will remain an honorable and quiet widow. Do not take this amiss from me; true, it is my advice, but therefore no command; but I seek it for the greater assurance of your salvation.

Oh, how often has this happened, that widows whose husbands went before them so valiantly, and so courageously gave their lives for the truth, by marrying again have subjected themselves to many sorrows, some of them fallen into perdition, and some of them gone through life in great sorrow, sighing over those whom they now have. So, my dear lamb, I repeat it, think of the words of the apostle: "The time is short; I would gladly spare you. For he would gladly have wished that all men were even as he himself was, seeing that through marriage much trouble comes into the flesh." First Corinthians 7, verses 28, 29 and 7. However, everyone has his particular gift, the one this, the other that; but do what you will, only let it be done in the Lord. Verse 39. But I hope and trust in my God, that He will firmly keep you together with my three lambs, and preserve you, so that you may not be taken; and that He will not let you, my dearest wife, be tempted above what you are able; for God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, but to reserve the wicked and ungodly to the day of judgment to be punished. First Corinthians 10, verse 13; Second Peter 2, verse 9.

So, my dear lamb, I will commend you to the Lord, our God and helper in distress, and further to His holy church; may they together open their fatherly heart over you, my poor widow and young orphans. I further desire, my dear wife, that wherever it is convenient you greet the God-fearing brothers and sisters much in my name with the peace of the Lord; and tell them that I greatly desire of them all that they remember us poor prisoners as their fellow brothers, and will help pray and plead with God, that we may wage the Lord's war, and [that He may] also help us to gain the victory, so that we may finish it to His praise and to our salvation; and bid them all adieu in our name, if perhaps I can write no more. And to you, my dear wife, my flesh and my blood, I will also say adieu; adieu, my helper in distress; adieu, my faithful friend on earth. The Lord be praised, who gave you to me; you, my lamb, who have always comforted me in my tribulation. Adieu, my Susanneken, my Abrahamken, my Isaaken; adieu, Janneken; my dearest love on earth, who have borne me six children, with three of whom I hope soon to be at rest.

The almighty God, to whom nothing is impossible, but whose power is equal to everything, keep you, my chosen wife, with the other three innocent lambs, to His eternal life. O my lamb, my Janneken Verstralen, may the almighty God grant us, my love, that we may come with our children to the Lord, to rejoice together before the throne of the Lamb and the Majesty of our God. Amen.

May God keep you, my dear wife, in the simplicity of doves, the innocence of children, and the prudence of serpents, and bring you to His eternal inheritance. I commend you to the Lord, and to the rich Word of His grace. By me, your husband, Hendrick Verstralen, bound for the eternal truth, at Rijpermonde, with fetters on my legs.

Maeyken greets you and all the God-fearing much with the peace of the Lord. Oh, greet the household at D. much in our name; I very affectionately desire to ask the old mother and her daughters that they immediately gird up their loins with the girdle of truth, and put on the shoes of the Gospel, to enter into the camp of God, to the church, where the Lord's war is now waged. Come immediately, my dear old mother, with your young daughters, to bear the baggage of the Captain of our faith, namely, the knapsack of love, in which is the helmet of salvation, with a beautiful plume called faith and firm trust. Cover them with the mantle of righteousness, so that the beautiful helmet of salvation may not rust, and the plume not become soiled, that is, so that your faith and trust toward God may not fail, and you remain behind with the fainthearted and the fearful. Though you see that all the tempests, storms and heavy rains fall upon the righteous, remember, my dear lamb, that all the God-fearing must have themselves enlisted, and become soldiers under the bloody banner which Christ Jesus our chief Captain has borne in the midst of His saints, and under whose banner I now stand by the grace of God, and hope to fight valiantly together with Him, and to strive lawfully, as long as I can stand on my feet, and there is breath in me.

With this I will bid you adieu, my dear friends D. and P., and the daughters, and commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, hoping that you will follow. Adieu, my dear friends, at whose table I ate bread with joy for the last time, and we sang a hymn to the honor of God. Adieu, my dear friends, in the hope that we shall eat bread together in the kingdom of God, and drink the oil of joy and the new wine.

By me Hendrick Verstralen, in bonds for the testimony of the truth, on Palm Sunday, in the year 1571. HENDRICK VERSTRALEN.