Of Hausmann's sickliness and of Duke George's writing, which Luther wants to answer.
The original is in Dessau. Handwritten in Aurifaber's unprinted collection, p. 174. Printed in Schütze, vol. II, p. 292; in Strobel-Ranner, p. 222 and in De Wette, vol. IV, p. 476. German in Walch, vol. XXI, 1408.
Grace and peace! Your sickness, my dear brother in Christ, is very close to me. Christ will stand by you and not only make you well, but he will also give you the courage to endure everything that is connected with this illness. For he loves you, because you love him and speak and suffer for him in this exceedingly wicked, not only exceedingly ungrateful world. Be strong and despise the one who hates you and the one you preach, Christ Jesus. I am so busy by God's grace that I could not write a letter to you this morning through your Aurelius, as I would have liked. Duke George has published a book which is in accordance with his character and purpose. 2) But thanks be to God, who has brought this foolish heart to the public. This is what he has earned so far by this constant persecution of the word that he, as his own accuser and judge, is forced to shamefully drag himself through before the whole world as a liar, blasphemer, and blasphemer of God. He will be answered 3) in a judgment not for him but for us.
1) "before" inserted by us, because in the year 1533 the day of the birth of Mary, September 8, fell on a Monday. If the date according to the Eisleben edition is nevertheless correct, this letter would belong to the year 1532, in which Mary's birth fell on a Sunday.
2) See St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIX, Introduction, p. 241).
3) This Luther did by writing: "Little Answer to Duke Georgen's Next Book." See St. Louis Edition, Vol. XIX, 1842.
due manner. You pray for us. My Lord Käthe greets you reverently and kindly, always remembering you in the most honorable way. May you in turn greet from us in the most reverent way your very good and exceedingly praiseworthy princes, whose name, by God's grace, grows from day to day into a sweet smell in the blessing and favor of all. God be with you. This I wrote while your Weller sang with me at dinner. Wednesday after St. Matthew's [Sept. 24] Anno 1533.
Your Martin Luther.
No. 2003.