Matthew(i)
1 Then spake the Lorde vnto me, & sayde: Though Moses and Samuel stode before me, yet haue I no herte to thys people. Dryue them awaye, that they maye go out of my syght.
2 And yf they saye vnto the: Whyther shall we go? Then tell them: The Lorde geueth you thys answere: Some vnto death, some to the swearde, some to honger, some in to captyuyte.
3 For I will bryng foure plages vpon them sayeth the Lorde. The swearde shall strangle them, the dogges shal deuoure them, the foules of the ayre, and beastes of the earth shall eate them vp, and destroye them.
4 I wyll scatter them aboute also in all kyngdomes and landes to be plaged, because of Manasseh the sonne of Hezekiah kynge of Iuda, for the thinges that he dyd in Ierusalem.
5 Who shall then haue pyte vpon the O Ierusalem? Who shall be sory for the? Or who shall make intercession, to opteyne peace for the?
6 seynge thou goest fro me, & turnest backwarde, sayeth the Lorde? Therfore I will stretch out myne hand agaynst the, to destroy the, and I wyll not be intreated.
7 I will scatre the abrode with fanne no euery side of the lande: I wyll waste my people and destroye them, for they haue had no luste to turne from their owne wayes.
8 I wyll make their wyddowes mo in nombre, then the sandes of the sea. Vpon the mothers of their chyldren, I shall brynge a destroyer in the noone daye. Sodenlye & vnawarres, shall I sende a feare vpon their cyties.
9 She that hath borne .vij. chyldren, shall haue none, here herte shal be full of sorowe. The Sunne shall fayle her in the cleare daye, when she shalbe confounded and faynte for very heuynesse. As for those that remayne, I wyll delyuer them vnto the swearde of their enemyes, sayth the Lorde.
10 O mother, alas that euer thou dydest beate me, an enemye and hated of the whose lande: Though I neuer lente ner receyued vpon vsury, yet all men speake euell vpon me.
11 And the Lorde answered me: Lede not I the then vnto good? Come not I to the, when thou art in trouble: & helpe the, when thyne enemye oppresseth the?
12 Doth one yron hurte another, or one metall that commeth from the North, another?
13 As for youre ryches and treasure, I wyll geue them out in to a praye, not for eny money, but because of all your synnes, that ye haue done in all youre coastes.
14 And I wyll brynge you with youre enemyes in to a lande, that ye knowe not: for the fyre that is kyndled in my indignacyon, shall burne you vp.
15 O Lorde (sayde I then) thou knowest all thinges, therfore remembre me, & vyset me, delyuer me fro my persecuters: Recyeue not my cause in thy longe wrath, yet thou knowest, that for thy sake I suffre rebuke.
16 When I had found thy wordes, I ate them vp gredely: they haue made my herte ioyfull & glad. For I call vpon thy name, O Lorde God of Hostes.
17 I dwell not amonge the scorners, nether is my delyte therin: but I dwell only in the feare of thy hand, for thou hast fylled me with bytternes.
18 Shall my heuynes endure for euer? Are my plages then so greate, that they maye neuer be healed? Wilt thou be as a water, that falleth, and can not continue?
19 Vpon these wordes, thus sayde the Lorde vnto me: If thou wylt turne agayne, I shall set the in my seruyce: and yf thou wylt take out the thynge that is precious from the vile, thou shalt be euen as myne owne mouth. They shall conuerte vnto the, but turne not thou vnto them:
20 & so shall I make the a stronge wall of stele agaynst this people. They shall fyght agaynst the, but they shall not preuayle. For I my selfe will be with the, to helpe the, and delyuer the, sayeth the Lorde.
21 And I wyll rydd the out of the handes of the wycked, and delyuer the out of the hande of Tirauntes.