Study Desk

For as strately as a brech lieth vpon a mas loynes, so strately dyd I bynde ye whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Iuda vnto me, saieth the LORDE: that they might be my people: that they might haue a glorious name: yt they might be in honoure: but they wolde not obeye me.

Be obedient, geue eare, take no di?dayne at it, for it is the LORDE himself that speaketh.

Honoure ye LORDE youre God herein, or he take his light from you, and or euer youre fete stomble in darknesse at ye hill: lest whe ye loke for the light, he turne it in to ye shadowe and darknesse of death.

But yf ye wil not heare me, that geue you secrete warnynge, I will mourne fro my whole herte for youre stubburnesse. Piteously will I wepe, and the teares shall gushe out of myne eyes. For the LORDES flocke shal be caried awaye captiue.

Tell the kinge & the rulers: Humble yor selues, set you downe lowe, for ye crowne of yor glory shal fall from youre heade.

To whom wilt thou make thy mone, when they come vpon the? for thou hast taught the thy self, and made the masters ouer the. Shal not sorowe come vpo the, as on a woman trauelinge with childe?

And yf thou woldest saye the in thine hert: Wherfore come these thinges vpo me? Eue for the multitude of thy blasphemies, shall thy hynder partes & thy fete be discouered.

For like as the man of Inde maye chaunge his skynne, & the cat of the mountayne hir spottes: so maye ye that be exercised in euell, do good.

yi aduoutrie, thy deedly malice, thy beastlynes and thy shamefull whordome. For vpon the feldes and hilles I haue sene thy abhominacions. Wo be vnto the (o Ierusale) whe wilt thou euer be clensed enymore?

For the groude shalbe dried vp, because there cometh no rayne vpon it. The plowmen also shalbe ashamed, ad shal couer their heades.

The wilde Asses shall stonde in the Mosse, and drawe in their wynde like the Dragos, their eyes shal fayle for wat of grasse.

For thou art the comforte & helpe of Israel in the tyme of trouble. Why wilt thou be as a straunger in the Londe, and as one that goeth ouer the felde, ad cometh in only to remayne for a night?

Why wilt thou make thy self a cowarde, and as it were a giaute that yet maye not helpe? For thou art ours (o LORDE) and we beare thy name, therfore forsake vs not.

For though they fast, I will not heare their prayers. And though they offre burnt offriges & sacrifices, yet wil not I accepte them. For I will destroye them with the swearde, honger and pestilence.

Therfore thus saieth the LORDE: As for those prophetes that preach in my name (whom I neuertheles haue not sent) and yt saye: Tush, there shal nether batel ner honger be in this londe: With swearde ad with honger shal those prophetes perish,

and the people to whom they haue preached, shal be cast out of Ierusalem, dye of honger, ad be slayne with the swearde, (and there shal be no man to burie them) both they ad their wyues, their sonnes and their doughters. For thus wil I poure their wickednes vpon the.

This shalt thou saye also vnto them: Myne eyes shal wepe without ceassinge daye & night. For my people shalbe dtstroyed with greate harme, and shall perish with a greate plage.

For yff I go in to the felde, lo, it lieth all full off slayne men: Yff I come in to the cite, lo, they be all fameshed of honger. Yee their prophetes also and prestes shalbe led in to an vnknowne londe.

Hast thou then vtterly forsaken Iuda? (sayde I) Dost thou so abhorre Sio? Or hast thou so plaged vs, that we can be healed nomore? We loked for peace, and there cometh no good: for the tyme of health, & lo, here is nothinge but trouble.

Be not displeased (o LORDE) for thy names sake, forget not thy louynge kyndnes: Remembre ye trone of thyne honoure, breake not the couenaut, that thou hast made with vs.