"The martyrs of Jesus." Revelation 17:6
Words: Martin Luther, 1523 (Ein neues Lied wir heben an); translated from German to English by John A. Messenger. John Julian wrote of the hymn's origin:
On June 23, 1523, two young Augustinian monks, Heinrich Voes and Johann Esch, from Antwerp, had been, after examination by the Cologne Inquisitor, Jacob von Hogstraten, and at the instigation of the Louvain professors, condemned to death and burnt at the stake in Brussels. On receipt of the news of this first martyrdom for the Evangelical cause Luther's spirit was fired, and he wrote this spirited narrative, ending with the prophetic words [translated by Richard Massie, 1854]:
Summer is even at our door,
The winter now hath vanished,
The tender flowerets spring once more,
And He, Who winter banished,
Will send a happy Summer.
Music: "Ibstone," Maria Tiddeman
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