The text begins with a short refrain, and has eight stanzas. The refrain claims that the time to decide what is important is now, and that we do it today or not. The premise is the second coming of Jesus, and the stanzas give details of questions a believer will have to face then, and of questions that do not matter. In the first stanza, the questions that will not come are "What did you saye?" ("Was hast du gespart?) and "What did you own? (Was hast du alles besessen?), but: "What did you give?" (Was hast du geschenkt?) and "Whom did you cherish?" (Wen hast du geschätzt?) Each stanza but the last ends with "for my sake" (um meinetwillen).
