Classic Poem

Whosoever does an evil deed
And praises and adores it, too,
He advises evil doing;
He also shows the strongest proofs
That he is the friend of evil,
And that he is strongly bound
By satan's serpent cunning
To be the enemy of virtue.

2

For him who does not consider self-destruction
As a thing of evil,
There shines but a dim light
From out the gloomy realms of death.
Oh guard yourself, my friend,
From this unhappy fate
Which leads to the lap of death
And comes from the enemy of God.

3

Who, therefore, has a mind to say
That he possesses many friends
Let him rather keep silent
And save his gift of speech
Until a more befitting time
But whosoever loves his neighbor
Will have his heart disturbed
And he will venture into the struggle;

4

But not with flesh and blood
And not with carnal arms;
With such the courage of faith
Has nothing whatever to do.
But whoever has desire for more quarreling
Let him mark this with care
That such is not the way
Within the church of God.

5

This life which God has given us
Out of His great favor
Should live to first honor God
Before its death.
He who attains this goal
To him shall come a glorious end
In the midst of his faith
As the Scriptures bear us witness.

6

Indeed many live here so
That they greatly dishonor God.
And His mercy and His sacrifice
They consider the merest nothingness.
But our Lord does not wish
The death of a poor sinner;
He gives him bread therefore
And is lenient in His justice.

7

Through the death of Jesus Christ
Through the wounds of Jesus Christ
God himself has bound
The agony and the wounds of the soul
In order that we might surely know
His faithfulness;
And that we might not be affrighted
By His easy yoke.

8

The yoke of Satan is heavy to bear
O poor sinner, take much care,
And turn to the teaching of Christ
Turn to your Creator,
Avail yourself of this time of grace
Be not unmindful of today,
Your end is not far distant,
And then follows eternity.

9

Thus the word of God bears witness
Thus it is the desire of all things
Which the hand of God established
That the Lord shall forever prosper.
The sun, the light of the moon,
The stars both great and small,
They all in common say
Forget not thy Creator.

10

Does not each day declare
" Where has the night lingered? "
Just as the night moreover says
" I have driven away the day. "
So our brief time urges and drives
And thrusts itself
Into the sea of eternity.
O man, pause and consider.

11

The waters run into the sea
And can't be anywhere confined,
They flow hither and thither
To seek the ocean.
The mighty rivers hasten onward
And hurry toward their goal,
As is the will of their Creator
They are obedient to His word.

12

The autumn and the spring time,
The summer and the winter,
The struggle of the elements
Pursue the poor sinner!
Alas, alas, the too brief time
Grows every day still briefer,
We are driven into the grave
And into eternity!

13

We are hurled out of time
Like swift torrents of water
Into the sea of eternity
Where we must forever stay.
O sinner, pause and ponder
Fall down before your God
In faith and in repentance
While you are yet allowed to live.

14

The many kinds of flowers,
The plants out in the fields,
The dried herbs and the grass,
The leaves in the forests, —
All these together testify
To the transitoriness of things
And to the brief space of time
In which to make so great a choice.

15

He who chooses God for his friend
In this short life
Has his days all counted
By Him who has given us
Life and time,
Together with honor and fortune and goods,
Happiness, blessing, courage and strength
For the enjoyment of eternity.

16

To him who is pleased with God's counsel,
To him who loves the ways of God,
Though he be disciplined in this world
In very many ways,
To this one God's covenant of grace
Brings many rich returns
For all life's pain and misery
In one single hour.

17

He who holds to God in faith
And clings to Him in love
He it is who overcomes
His every burden with God's grace.
The death of holy men
Is worth our giving heed
By what means they enter into rest
To the great joy of the Lord.

18

When now a child of man
In this brief course of life
Considers over and over
To whom he ought to yield himself,
To God or to his foe,
Then is the length of time
For this great choice
Determined by his Friend.

19

Likewise of him who serves the enemy
With all his might and power,
And does not reconcile himself
With his Friend at the right time
God demands repentance,
And also grants him time for it
That he may yet do penance
Before he is forever lost.

20

But to him who does repent
And struggles with his sins,
God, Himself, gives encouragement
In order that he conquer.
He reveals to him the noble crown
And metes out for him the time
So that he in this bitter strife
May win the precious jewel.

21

Therefore we should value time most highly
And deem it of great worth.
Oh, that which God is offering us
Let us not despise!
Who is it that can grant himself
One single week?
My dear friend, accept then pray
What God still offers you.

22

Ah, many a year has passed
And many a day has gone,
But if your heart and mind
No happiness have found
Then say, " I have but weakly sought,
But it is worthy of all praise
That God still grants me time
To bring forth better fruit. "

23

Who would with his own hand
Shorten his brief time,
And with disgrace and shame
Hurl himself into destruction,
While God's trusty hand
Is still stretched out to him
And while a longer life
Is graciously allowed to him?

24

Though it oft seems dark indeed
In this poor life,
Yet He who brought life
Into the house of mourning —
He with His hand
Which holds and bears
And moves all things
Can change our condition.

25

How often has it happened
That he who complained at night
And could not overlook
The misery that grieved him,
Soon again recovered
And felt joy and delight
In his weak breast
In the early morning hour!

26

And if it is not always thus
Surely nothing here can long endure;
Even the saddest prophet says
" Need must consume need,
The day drives away the night
The night drives away the day. "
So it is also with our trouble
And with that which makes us sad.

27

He who learns to mourn here
Shall enjoy the happiness
Which separates us forever
From the lakes of pitch and sulphur.
Oh, highly blest today!
Oh, noble time of sorrow,
Thou Prophet of Eternity
Only joys follow thee!

28

Oh who would be so foolish
As not to trust his God?
And who would build upon the deception
Of his enemy,
Who hurls the deluded world
Into perdition
And keeps him, who shortens his own days,
As his slave?

29

Therefore, take new courage
You greatly troubled souls,
Be through the blood of Christ
Sharers of Jacob's blessing.
Overcome your own conditions,
Give God alone the honor.
Give ear unto His word
And seek the Father's home.

30

Is it not likely that one learns
To make sweetness out of bitterness,
And, on the cross of affliction,
To laugh with weeping eyes?
Thus is the spirit strengthened
The soul also grows strong which acquires
Through Him who died for it
That which the whole world does not see.

31

If sadness makes us ill,
Then let us think most earnestly
That He who guides all things
Will also lead our hearts
So that we through His grace
May exist in our sorrow,
And learn to sow with wisdom
The precious seed of tears.

32

We have, of course, here below
No other joys to hope for
Until our tribulations
Have reached their proper goal;
Until we, reconciled to God
Through the death of His dear Son,
Perceive our misery destroyed
And are accustomed to loving rightly.

33

Loving rightly is the power
Which conquers all distress,
And brings us to the noble state
Of a precious faith
Loving rightly brings the crown
To the soldiers of Jesus Christ,
He who practices it down here
Carries off the victory.

34

But he who loves differently
Than what he ought to love,
He it is who comes to grief;
If one wishes to console him
The comfort is but naught.
So long as he loves foolishly
He will remain in trouble
Until he makes his mind up properly.

35

He who loves the fleeting things
Will perish through his love
He who loves that which endures
Will endure through his love
He who loves deceit and show
Grieves his Friend,
Rejoices his enemy,
And brings to himself distress and pain.

36

Whom love makes strong
Him, also, his affliction strengthens
Whom sorrow weakens
Him, also, his love enfeebles.
For love and sorrow
Are always closely related,
Each always extends to the other its hand
Through the whole of life's journey.

37

False love loves on
Through fatal grieving.
True love grieves
According to the divine will.
The distinction is wide,
'Tis a matter of life and death.
By short suffering
One draws a favorable lot.

38

God's love descends to us
Here on the earth
And trains our hearts
Until they become divine.
Whenever it brings sadness to us
That comes from faults our own,
Because it through infinite patience
Endeavors to make us better.

39

What love deprives us of
Consists of but such things
In which unhappiness dwells;
In order to bring us happiness
The sadness of the world
Is entirely destroyed through it.
He who learns this rightly
Has that which brings him pleasure.

40

When God's pure love
Makes warm our hearts,
Its pure impulse so acts
That we are easily consoled.
The sorrows of this life,
The short road of affliction
Lead us into Canaan,
To eternal joy and bliss.

41

But when strange love
Rules the hearts of men
Then it is as if one thief
Leads another thief astray,
And both then come
Most surely to an evil end,
As one can truly find
Entirely too many examples.

42

The love of God
Is a fire that is effective;
It leads us, through Jesus Christ,
Into a new world
It melts the folly out
And melts the wisdom in,
And when we are purified
It leads us all home.

43

The love of God impels
And leads to virtue only;
For him who yields to it
Eternal youth forever blooms
It makes youth strong
Because it produces only good.
It is the strength of the weak,
It is a crown and honor of the old.

44

But strange love can
Oft mislead most wonderfully
It is accustomed to annoy us
Most unmercifully.
He who escapes its snare
Is loved and esteemed of God,
And will at last be honored
When he reaches his life's goal.

45

It (love of God) teaches the distinctions of knowledge,
And teaches also prudence
In this life time,
And therefore gives us help.
Happy is he who trusts in it,
He is through it much honored;
And when he is esteemed by it
To him it is betrothed.

46

Who clings to it with pleasure
He leads a blessed life,
And when he comes to die
The reward will be given him;
It will lead him through death
And he will become wholly free
From all slavery
And will find triumph in God.

47

He who holds dear the word of God
Will prosper in his work
He who honors not the word of God
Is sure to bring forth rotten fruit.
To him who scorns the word of God
Will his own words
Bring torment here and hereafter
And also much unhappiness.

48

He who loves the deeds of God
Finds blessing and much happiness
He who thinks only of his own deeds
Brings himself into distress,
Forfeits his own salvation,
Robs his God of honor,
Whereby he falls more and more
To the lot of his great enemy.

49

For him who does the will of God
The door of Heaven stands open,
And he can freely hope
For eternal life through the blood of Christ
He who follows his own will
Deprives himself of bread,
Thrusts himself into misery and distress,
And brings grief to himself here and hereafter.

50

To him who likes God's counsel,
Counsel is always given.
But he who chooses rather his own counsel
Creates for himself a life of misery.
Human wisdom
Is of no avail in death's final blow;
The fall of its house is great,
The foundation was of sand.

51

To him who loves the works of God
God gives courage and strength.
He who is concerned with his own works merely
Wastes his life with these works,
For his own works bring him only trouble.
One thus steals time from God,
Puts himself into the greatest sorrow
And becomes but mockery at last.

52

He who trusts in God's care,
He who honors God's wisdom,
Has built upon the rock
Which sustains and supports everything;
If famine comes in the land
His bread is bestowed upon him
What he, in God's name, desires
Comes to him from God's hand.

53

He who would establish himself
In opposition to God's counsel
Must, without any mercy,
Lease his life to the enemy.
He lives on stolen bread,
His enemy leads him everywhere
Through paths which are far from straight
And finally leads him to his death.

54

In truth, to all men 'tis decreed
That sometime they must die,
But he who does not forget God
Can't be destroyed in death.
This marks then here the difference,
And the danger we must meet
Is astonishingly great
In our time of life.

55

Oh may the Lord, Himself, be willing
To raise His face in mercy,
And may the Most High bless you and me
And give to us also
The peace of His strong arm,
So that here in time
And also in eternity
Our condition may be bettered.
The wish and the prayer
Of your loyal friend and well-wisher.