Rouwklagt van de Doopsgezinde kerk, over het schielyk afsterven van ... Joannes Houbakker. Overleeden in ...

They melt away from pain. Come, do your duty with me,
(Thus one is never accused of ingratitude)
And wish to shed your tears by the marble Gravestone,
And mix them with the urn holding his precious ashes.
Mourn freely, yes mourn with me, O defenseless flock!
You miss your Shepherd, Crown, and firm Church-pillar,
Your Temple-luster, who for five sun-cycles came
To teach you the Gospel, from his golden mouth,
Untimely, swept away from the earth by death.
Deplorable event! loss, well worth lamenting.
Never shall you see him again, hear him in Church and Service.
How his moral lessons and zeal could pierce the heart
Through his Eloquence! what a treasure he already gave
Of virtuous lessons here, and showed us the Savior's path,
Which leads us to heaven, and went along depicting for us
The blessed Eternity, with its heavenly halls
Of golden Zion, where God sits, with His Son,
Full of Divine glory, exalted on their throne!
One seemed, as if transported and free from earthly swarming,
And came thus, through thought, as if up into heaven.
Now Learning is finished, he lives no more on the earth,
The soul has gone heavenward to its God, its origin,
Already raised above sun and moon and zodiac,
To live eternally, eternally there, in the blessed choir
With all the pious, who have entered the kingdom of heaven,
Where he is welcomed by his friend GALEEN,
And dearest Colleague NOORDYK, two Temple-lights,
And other Teachers, who lay the firm foundations
On which the Church-building of the Defenseless refers to the Mennonites, who are historically pacifists is set,
Founded after the Savior's trace, and Divine law.
Through God's wise will it all came to pass on earth,
It was also, through God's will, taken away from here again.
Grieving DINA, who through the bonds of holy matrimony
Was attached to him, misses her most precious possession,
And sits in mourning garb, one hears her weep, lament.
It is true, your tragedy is great, and painful to bear.

Console yourself, that he now lives in the Eternal Court,
Singing, with the choir of Angels, in joy, the praise of Heaven,
Freed from burden and envy. Alas! do not envy him,
But grant him to rejoice evermore with the blessed.
Alas! cease the weeping, since his life-ship, out of the sea
And the waves of the world, is anchored on heaven's safe roadstead,
Free from disaster. Let reason command you,
Remember the Savior's lesson, Lord, Thy will be done.
You Elders, who also mourn for your worthy Son,
A Pearl, so precious to you, the ornament of your crown,
Alas! console yourself, although he is driven from your sight,
That Son, however worthy he was, was given to you on loan.
Venerable Teachers, you lose a Colleague,
Struck by death at the midday point of life.
All that is born must one day forfeit life.
Our earthly vessel is weak, and very easily cracks into shards.
Although he was your helper, and gave even greater hope,
He is gone, and the earthly house already lies in the grave-ruin.
May Heaven spare you in the plowing of the field
Of this Congregation, remain awake in Jesus' church-building,
Water it with God's word, as the true work of wisdom:
So shall the Mennonite Church still long bloom and grow:
Thus we see our loss risen anew again,
To the comfort of your Congregation, and fatherless Orphans.
Although you, Congregation, complain that you miss your HOUBAKKER,
Taken from you too soon, are you not mistaken here?
That Teacher has sufficiently prescribed for you the path of virtue
Of our Savior's teaching, only wish to live by it.
Whoever wishes to walk the path of salvation virtuously,
Step calmly on that road, and do not remain standing still.
Teachers.*

You still have *Stars, who light the way of salvation for you,
For the welfare of us all, and directed toward edification.
Just go forth with zeal, lend your hearing diligently,
And make no distinction, do not be too choosy of ear,
Leave your prejudice at home, come purely to the offering,
And enclose the teaching of truth in the coffer of your heart,