A Letter from Hendrick Verstralen, Written to his Brothers and Sisters

We prisoners, bound in the Lord for the sake of the eternal truth, Hendrick Verstralen and Maeyken Deynoots, your very weak brother and sister in the Lord, wish our very dear and affectionately beloved brothers and sisters, who stand in the same faith with us in the Lord, and have gone out from Babylon, to touch the unclean thing no more, nor to be yoked together any longer with unbelievers, but have come to Jerusalem, into the church of the living God, there to serve the Lord your God, around the slaughterhouse, where some of you are still spared, as the prophet Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 11, verse 19), to be baptized; much comfort, gladness and joy in all your hearts, from God our heavenly Father, and this through Jesus Christ His only, eternally begotten Son, full of grace and truth, through this our High Priest and mercy seat, who offered Himself to God His Father for us on the tree of the cross, so that through His death He might prepare for us the entrance to eternal life. Through this innocent and spotless Lamb, who took away our sins, we bow the knee of our heart day and night before God our heavenly Father, that He would spread His peace among you like a river, and confirm you, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, with His Holy Spirit, so that you may be strengthened in the inner man, and keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and love (Ephesians 4, verse 3), so that we, my dear brothers and sisters, who are bought and redeemed with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, may together serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness, acceptably before Him, as long as we are in this tabernacle. Amen.

O camp of the Lord, O city of the living God, may the Lord set watchmen everywhere on your walls, who never keep silent day or night (Isaiah 62, verse 6); but that your teachers may, as David says, be filled with much blessing, and gain one victory after another, so that the vineyard of the Lord may be planted, and you, Jerusalem, be built, you temple of the Lord, though in a sorrowful time. Let everyone gird his sword to his side, and let him build with the one hand, and with the other let him hold the spear, so that the enemies who would prevent our working may be driven back, so that Zion alone may be shown prepared. My dear brothers and sisters, we wish for you from God that you may be built together into a spiritual house and dwelling place of God; that God's law may be written in all your hearts, and His commandment be in your mind, and that you may so remain sons and daughters of God, in whom He may dwell and walk: that He would keep you, so that you will never touch the unclean thing, but may prove yourselves in all things as ministers of God, so that the name of the Lord may be praised from the rising of the sun to its going down. O brothers and sisters, may your light rise like the morning star, and may you remain a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people, so that you, dear brothers and sisters, may everywhere lift up holy hands to God, and offer up to Him the fruit of your lips, spiritual sacrifices, so that the vial of the Lord may be filled with incense from the prayers of the saints. First Timothy 2, verse 8; Hebrews 13, verse 15; Revelation 5, verse 8. O bride of the Lamb, who out of love for your Bridegroom Christ must be zealous even to death, and bring forth the fruits of righteousness with many sorrows and pains, and be sick with love for Him; may the Lord our God lay His left hand under your head, and embrace you with His right hand (Song of Songs 2, verse 6), you Eve regenerated by Christ your husband through the incorruptible seed of the living Word of God, proceeding from the fatherly heart — O beautiful daughter of the almighty Father, who are now presented to His Son Jesus, the Lord from heaven, and through faith in Him will have eternal life; may the eternal, almighty Father richly pour out upon you His blessing and the power of the Holy Ghost, and make you fruitful and fit for every good work, so that you may win for His Son Jesus many sons and daughters, so that His winepress may soon be filled through the number of His saints (Revelation 6, verse 11), and you may thus the sooner see the destruction of our enemies, who are countless in number, and have bent our back, and walk over us as over a street, and repay us evil for good, because they cannot build with us on the spiritual house of the Lord, since they are uncircumcised in heart and carnally minded. [n1035-1] Against these enemies of ours, may God arm us and you, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, with the armor of righteousness, [and grant] that we may be shod with the Gospel of peace, and our loins be girded with truth, always having the two-edged sword of the Spirit at our side, so keeping our helmet of salvation with the shield of faith, guarding the knapsack of love, and so following the Captain of our faith, as Christian soldiers, boldly waging the war of the Lord under the bloody banner of Christ; so that we, our dear brothers and sisters, may through the grace of God gain the victory of a good fight in godly conflict, and obtain the crown of eternal life. Amen.

We prisoners in the Lord, bound for the sake of the eternal truth and the testimony of Jesus, Maeyken Deynoots and Hendrick Verstralen, hereby greet all our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and send you this brief letter from the depth of our heart, as our last adieu; hereby taking affectionate leave of all our dear brothers and sisters, especially those of you who are known to us, and have shown us much good by your comforting exhortations in our tribulation, where we are imprisoned for the sake of the eternal truth. So we again entreat all you beloved who will see our letter, or hear it read, before we are out of the flesh, that you will help us heartily to beseech the Lord, that we may overcome even to death, to the praise and glory of the almighty God, and to our salvation, and to your boasting in the day of Christ. Philippians 2, verse 16. Adieu, all my dear brothers and sisters. Adieu, all who love the Lord and His appearing. Adieu, H. P. H. de R. and D. P. and Adam and his wife, and B. P. and S. and J. van H., our faithful helpers in distress. Adieu, K. and L. B. and M. S. and G. and her sister Janneken. Dear friends, take it to heart to pray to God for us, for we ask it of you with tears. H. de R., I ask you to greet much in my name, with the peace of the Lord, for an adieu, L. de C., and your servant maid and your friend C., and all my dear brothers. Oh, that God would grant that the two Abrahams might each make a Sarah out of his rib; this is my heart's wish. Bid them adieu too, Grietjen and Judith. Adieu, T. de S. and your wife, our L. S. G., as I may boldly call you; my dear brother, my dear friend, adieu; however, I hope to remember you yet, if that is possible. Acquit yourself valiantly.

Written on Saint George's day, in the year 1571.