Text: The Unaltered Augsburg Confession, in The Christian Book of Concord, second edition, revised (Newmarket: Solomon D. Henkel and Bros., 1854), translated from the German text of the 1580 Dresden Book of Concord; Repristination Press edition, 2024.
In reference to confession it is taught, that private absolution ought to be retained in the church, and should not be discontinued; in confession, however, it is unnecessary to enumerate all transgressions and sins, which indeed is not possible. Psalm 19:12: “Who can understand his errors?”
Original German: German text of the 1580 Dresden Book of Concord, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, 2 H.ref. 20, scans 31–63. Historical typography, spelling, and punctuation have been normalized for online reading.
Deutscher Text · Von der Beichte
Von der Beichte wird also gelehrt, daß man in der Kirche privatam absolutionem erhalten und nicht fallen lassen soll; wiewohl in der Beichte nicht not ist, alle Missetat und Sünden zu erzählen, dieweil doch solches nicht möglich ist, Ps. 19,13: "Wer kennet die Missetat?"