A Christian cannot be without a cross;
Therefore do not be cast down 
When God, with cross and suffering, tests
The children whom He loves.
The more beloved the child,
The more serious are
The blows of the pious father;
See, those are God's methods!

A Christian cannot be without a cross;
God does not wish it any other way:
The misery and pain of this life, too,
Are the gifts of your Father.
If it is to be thus,
Accept it:
It comes from loving hands,
God shall not send anything evil.

A Christian cannot be without a cross;
The cross teaches us assiduous prayer,
Draws us away from vain deceit and deception,
And teaches us to come to Jesus.
Therefore do not cast it aside
With a recalcitrant spirit
When it has now come to you;
It is for the benefit of your soul!

A Christian cannot be without a cross;
That must always waken us,
We would otherwise fall asleep in sin;
How startled we would be
If, unprepared,
Eternity
And the sound of the trumpet
Were to fall upon us!

A Christian cannot be without a cross;
It teaches us to hate sin,
And our dear God alone
To embrace with true love.
The world shall pass away,
And God remains;
Think on it and let yourself be trained
To love the eternal good.

I, too, do not wish to be without a cross;
What God sends I shall bear!
For it is sent by my most beloved Father,
[And] they are only brief tribulations,
And well-intentioned!
Those who weep in faith,
Lives over there in perpetual joy:
I wish to suffer with Christ!