A Letter Written By Cornelis The Shoemaker, To His Wife While In Bonds. He Was Afterwards Burned With Three Others, Sealing This Letter With His Blood, In The Great Market Place At Antwerp, The 13th Of September, 1567.

Thus, strengthen yourself, and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ in the eternal life. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24,25.

See, my dear wife and sister in the Lord, since I can no longer serve you with my presence, I have written you a little to comfort you; and this for a memorial or testament, that thereby you may remember me, how I walked before you. I hope to seal this letter with my blood, that it is the truth; and for this I want to lay down my life, to the praise of the Lord, and to the edification of all who fear the Lord from the heart. I commit you to the Lord and to the word of his grace, that he would keep you in all righteousness and truth. And though we must separate, yet I know and firmly trust the Lord, that we shall be together in the life eternal. I hope that you will always so order and regulate your way all the days of your life, that you may obtain salvation.

Herewith I bid you adieu, my dear lamb; adieu till in eternity. Adieu and farewell to all that fear the Lord. Pray the Lord for all four of us, that we may offer up unto him an acceptable sacrifice, so that our souls may be saved forever; to this end may God the Lord give his grace. Amen.

Written by me, Cornelis the shoemaker, imprisoned for the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ.