Letters · Zweiter Band · Theil IV (1775)

A deathly-ill woman is pointed wholly upon Jesus and his grace.

Bd II · Th IV · Brief 151 · Der hundertundeinundfünfzigste Brief

Addressee, date, and source

Addressee — To a sister (unnamed). Salutation "Herzlich geliebte Schwester!"
Date — Undated on the leaf (no dateline or place-line; closes …Amen! JEsu, Amen!). Body: deine Krankheit noch auf dem Gipfel; Leben und … Sterben; ewigen Welt.
Provenance — Translated from the public-domain 1775 first edition (Theil IV, pp. 377–378), in normalized GS 1845 house orthography, collated against the 1798/99 second edition (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin). All rendered words come from public-domain prints.

The Hundred and Fifty-first Letter.

A deathly-ill woman is pointed wholly upon Jesus and his grace.

Dearly beloved sister!

Because I hear that your illness still remains at its height, I would once more visit you with a heart-brotherly greeting; even as I often pay such a visit in the spirit. May Jesus bless and visit your soul in my stead! May he draw near to your inward part, and say: Peace be with you! May the fatherly heart of the overflowing love of God be opened to you by Jesus' Spirit in your soul-ground! May he entice you as a poor naked child to sink yourself into this abyss upon pure grace, both in life and in dying! Were it his will to take you over, then venture it upon this grace in Jesus, and give him free hand over you, that he may do with you what he please: Yes, do this from now on, so he cares for you; if then this life cease, which is no life, then will Jesus be your eternal life, and your certain resurrection. I thank him that we have come to know one another in this world; may it be to him unto his glorifying! If we are then to know one another here no more in mortality, we shall soon know one another again in the eternal world, when the Lord will show us the mercy to let us meet there, as I wholly trust him in Jesus.

In this hope I lay you once more down into Jesus' hands; these hands, which are crucified for you, will take you up, hold, strengthen and lead you thither where it is eternally well with you. Amen! Jesus, Amen!

❦

German

Der hundertundeinundfünfzigste Brief.

Eine Todtkranke wird ganz auf JEsum und seine Gnade hingewiesen.

Herzlich geliebte Schwester!

Weil vernehme, daß deine Krankheit noch auf dem Gipfel bleibet, so wollte dich nochmals mit einem herzbrüderlichen Gruß besuchen; gleichwie ich solchen Besuch im Geist oftmals abstatte.

— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.

German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).

Translator’s notes

What this letter is. An undated short letter to a sister (du): her illness still at its height — a heart-brotherly visit in the spirit; may Jesus bless and visit her soul and say Peace be with you; sink as a poor naked child into the abyss of pure grace in life and dying; give him free hand; if this life cease, Jesus is eternal life and certain resurrection; thank God they have known one another here; hope of meeting again in the eternal world; in this hope laid into Jesus' crucified hands — Amen, Jesus, Amen.

How to read the German. The panel is the 1775 first-edition wording in the house orthography used for Band II / Th IV (settled 2 Sep 2026). Distinctive KEEP forms (sey / seyn / geöfnet / gecreutziget / thue / wann / 151te / Seelen-Grunde) stand as on the leaf. House folds include Todtkrancke→Todtkranke, Kranckheit→Krankheit, hertzbrüderlichen→herzbrüderlichen, sencken→senken, beydes→beides, freye→freie, dancke→danke, Hofnung→Hoffnung, stärcken→stärken, Versalien → digraph. KEEP sey / seyn / geöfnet / gecreutziget.

English choices. you/your for the sister (du); Rule B dearly beloved sister; leaf subjectless Weil vernehme → English supplies I (Because I hear); geöfnet → opened; gecreutziget → crucified; 2c. not on this letter. Divine names ordinary. Modern morphology in ordinary prose (Jarred Rule C, 2 Sep 2026) — no decorative -eth. Scripture cadence at Peace be with you kept as the letter's word. No authorial emphasis (§9d).

How the German reads here. Panel KEEP forms (sey / seyn / geöfnet / gecreutziget / thue / wann) stand; Todtkrancke / Kranckheit / hertzbrüderlichen / sencken / beydes / freye / dancke / Hofnung / stärcken / GOTT are folded by the house rules (Spec §3; CRITICAL folds).

A few words and echoes.

"Eine Todtkranke wird ganz auf JEsum und seine Gnade hingewiesen" — a deathly-ill woman is pointed wholly upon Jesus and his grace.
"Friede sey mit dir!" — Peace be with you! (John 20:19, 21, 26 cadence).
"dich in diesen Abgrund hinein zu senken auf pure Gnade" — to sink into this abyss upon pure grace.
"gib ihm freie Hand über dich" — give him free hand over you.
"so wird JEsus dein ewiges Leben seyn, und deine gewisse Auferstehung" — then will Jesus be your eternal life, and your certain resurrection (KEEP seyn).
"diese Hände, die für dich gecreutziget sind" — these hands, which are crucified for you (KEEP gecreutziget).
"In dieser Hoffnung lege ich dich nochmals in JEsu Hände nieder" — in this hope I lay you once more down into Jesus' hands.

Cite this letter

Gerhard Tersteegen, Geistliche und erbauliche Briefe, Zweiter Band, IV. Theil, Brief 151 (Solingen, 1773–75); trans. Jarred Fenlason, https://gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-151.html.

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