ONse Heere God heeft hier beneden,, Goden oock gestelt,
The Divine Order of Rulers
God establishes earthly authorities to maintain justice and protect the righteous from the wicked.
Our Lord God has also appointed rulers here on earth so that His justice might be upheld.1 And so the good who suffer violence there might live in peace, and the wicked's evil might be punished according to the deed.2
A Queen's Compassionate Intervention
The Queen, moved by the Spirit, discerned the suffering of the Dutch people and provided vital aid.
In our own time, people saw Her Majesty ready to free us—she who, prompted by God's Spirit, has been such a help to us.3 She first took great care to observe and fully grasp how the Spaniard has treated the poor people here; the misery and pain he has inflicted on all of God's churches; and how he has murdered and defiled everywhere.4 Therefore, full of compassion, she offered us whatever she could—financial aid and military force—without hesitation, when we lay there as if crushed.5
Gratitude and Prayer for the Sovereign
The people express deep gratitude for the Queen's love and pray for God's blessing upon her.
Highborn lady and queen, great thanks be yours for this great good Your Majesty does for us. It is truly an act of genuine love that, all our life long, wherever we settle, will never leave our thoughts.6 May God answer you in return, and fully grant all you desire—both in this earthly valley and, above all, in eternal life.7
Read the original Latin
ONse Heere God heeft hier beneden,, Goden oock gestelt, Op dat op der aerd,, Syn gerecht mocht syn bewaert. En de goede woonen mocht met vreden,, Die daer lyd gewelt, En der quade n quaet,, Mocht gestraft zyn naer de daet. Alsmen t'onsen tyden, Om ons te bevryden,, Sag bereyt,, hare Majesteyt; Die door dryving' va n Gods geest, Ons soo hulpsaem is geweest.
Seer bescheydentlyck sy eerst ging mercken En wel onderstaen Hoe de Spanjaert heeft Hier met 'tarme volck geleeft; Wat ellend en smert hy Godes kercken Al heeft aengedaen, Hoe aen allen end' Hy gemoort heeft en geschend. Dies sy seer medogend' Wat sy was vermogend', Ons biet aen Sonder af te slaen , Hulp van gelt en volck met macht Doe wy lagen als versmacht.
Hoog geboren Vrouw' en Coninginne, U sy grooten danck, Voor dit groote goet Dat u Majesteyt ons doet; 'Tis voorwaer een stuck van rechte minne 'tWelck ons leven lanck, Waer wy neder slaen Noyt uyt ons gedacht' sal gaen. God wil u daer voren Wederom verhooren, En soo seer Oock al u begeer Geven in dit aertsche dal 'tEeuwig leven boven al.
Notes
- 1 ↩Dutch Goden is the period's scriptural name for earthly magistrates (cf. Psalm 82), not rival deities; rendered here as "rulers" for modern clarity.
- 2 ↩Reading "der quade n quaet" as "der quaden quaet" (the wicked's evil), a clear typesetting split.
- 3 ↩Reading "va n" as "van" and "dryving'" as drijving (prompting/impelling).
- 4 ↩Early modern bescheydentlyck means carefully / with discernment, not merely 'modestly.' aen allen end' is rendered 'everywhere' (on every side). geschend covers violation, dishonor, and desecration; 'defiled' keeps the moral-religious force toward churches and people.
- 5 ↩medogend' = compassionately / mercifully. vermogend' = what she was able / had power to give. sonder af te slaen = without turning away / without refusing. versmacht = exhausted, stifled, crushed by distress.
- 6 ↩Early Modern Dutch neder slaen can mean settle/alight, cast down (the eyes), or take one's place; rendered as 'wherever we settle' as the most natural life-long memorial sense.
- 7 ↩daer voren marks repayment for the queen's aid; Wederom marks reciprocal hearing/answering of her petitions. Rendered as 'for that' + 'in turn'.
Nederlandtsche Gedenck-clanck (Netherlands Memorial Songs) companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing