Study Desk

Yet men nether considre ner vnderstonde, because their eyes are stopped, that they can not se: and their hertes, that they cannot perceaue.

Herken vnto me, o house of Iacob, and all ye that remayne yet of the housholde of Israel: whom I haue borne from youre mothers wombe, and brought you vp from yor byrth, till ye were growen:

Yet must he be taken on mens shulders and borne, and set in his place, that he maye stonde and not moue. Alas that men shulde crie vnto him, which geueth no answere: and delyuereth not the man that calleth vpon him, from his trouble.

In the begynnynge of a thinge, I shewe the ende therof: and I tel before, thinges that are not yet come to passe. With one worde is my deuyce accomplished, & fulfilleth all my pleasure.

And yet both these thiges shal come to the vpo one daye in the twincklinge of an eye: Namely, wyddowhead, and desolacion. They shal mightely fall vpon the, for ye multitude of thy witches, and for the greate heape of thy coniurers.

Beholde, they shalbe like strawe, which yf it be kindled with fyre, no man maye rydde it for the vehemence of the flame: And yet it geueth no zynders to warme a ma by, ner cleare fyre to syt by.

Euen so shal they be vnto the, whom thou hast vsed & occupide from thy youth. Euery one shal shewe ye his erroneous waye, yet shall none of them defende the.

Doth a wife forget the childe of hir wombe, ad the sonne who she hath borne? And though she do forget, yet wil not I forget the.

He shalbe the most symple & despised of all, which yet hath good experience of sorowes & infirmities. We shal reken him so symple & so vyle, that we shal hyde oure faces fro him.

Howbeit (of a treuth) he only taketh awaye oure infirmite, & beareth oure payne: Yet we shal iudge him, as though he were plaged and cast downe of God:

He shal be payned & troubled, ad shal not ope his mouth. He shalbe led as a shepe to be slayne, yet shal he be as still as a lambe before the shearer, & not open his mouth.

He shal be had awaye, his cause not herde, & wtout eny iudgment: Whose generacion yet no man maye nombre, when he shalbe cut of fro the grounde of the lyvinge: Which punyshment shal go vpon him, for the transgression of my people.

Yet hath it pleased ye LORDE to smyte him with infirmite, that when he had made his soule an offeringe for synne, he might se a loge lastinge sede. And this device of the LORDE shal prospere in his honde.

Thus saieth the LORDE God which gathereth together the scatred of Israel: I wil bringe yet another cogregacion to him.

Thou wentest straight to kinges with oyle & dyuerse oyntmentes (that is) thou hast sent thy messaungers farre of, and yet art thou fallen in to the pyt therby.

Thou hast had trouble for ye multitude of thyne owne wayes, yet saydest thou neuer: I wil leaue of. Thou thinkest to haue life (or health) of thy self, and therfore thou beleuest not that thou art sick.

Yet remebred he the olde tyme, of Moses & his people: How he brought them from the water of the see, as a shepherde doth with his shepe: how he had geuen his holy sprete amonge them:

Yet art thou or father: For Abraham knoweth vs not, nether is Israel acquanted with vs. But thou LORDE art oure father and redemer, and thy name is euer lastinge.

And it shalbe, that or euer they call, I shal answere them. Whyle they are yet but thinkinge how to speake, I shal heare them.

For who so slayeth an oxe for me, doth me so greate dishonoure, as he yt kylleth a ma. He that kylleth a shepe for me, choketh a dogge. He that bringeth me meatoffringes, offreth swynes bloude: Who so maketh me a memoriall of Incense, prayseth the thinge yt is vnright. Yet take they soch wayes in honde, and their soule deliteth in these abhominacions.