A    ^noteBecause of the synnes that ye haue don against God, ye shal be led awaye captyue vnto Babylon euen of Nabuchodonosor the kynge of Babylon. So whan ye be come into Babylon, ye shall remayne there manye yeares, and for a longe season: namelye .vij. generatyons: and after that wyll I brynge you awaye peaceablye fr&obar; th&ebar;ce. Now shal ye se in Babylon, gods of golde, of siluer, of wod and of stone: borne vp&obar; mens shulders, to cast out a fearfulnes before the Heathen. But loke that ye do not as the other: be not ye afrayed, and lette not the feare of them ouercome yon.

B   Therfore, wh&abar; ye se the multytude of people worshippyng them behinde ∧ before saye ye in youre hertes: O Lorde, is it thou, that oughtest onelye to be worshypped? Myne

Aungel also shal be with you, and I my self wyll care for your soules. ^noteAs for the tymbre of those goddes, the carpenter hath polished them: yea, gylted be they, ∧ layed ouer wyth siluer, yet are they but vayne thinges, ∧ can not speake. Like as a wench that loueth peramours is trimly deckte, euen soo are these made ∧ hanged with golde. Crounes of gold verely haue their goddes vpon their heades: so the priestes them selfes take the golde and siluer from them, ∧ put it to their owne vses: yea, they geue of the same vnto harlottes, ∧ trymme their whores withall: agayne, they take it fr&obar; the whores, ∧ decke their goddes therwith. ^noteYet can not these goddes deliuer them selfes from ruste and mothes. When they haue couered them with clothynge of purple, they wype their faces for the dust of the temple, wherof their is much am&obar;g th&ebar;. One hath a sceptre in his hande, as thoughe he were iudge of the countre: yet can he not slaye suche as offende hym. Another hath a swearde or an axe in his hande, for all that, is he neither able to defende hym selfe from battayll, nor from murtherers.

C   By this ye maye vnderstande, that they be no goddes: therfore se that ye neither worshipe them, nor feare them. For like as a vessel that a m&abar; vseth, is nothynge worth when it is broken, euen so is it with their goddes. When thei be set vp in the temple, their eyes be full of dust, thorow the fete of those that come in. And like as the dores are shutte in rounde about vpon him, that hath offended the kynge: Or as it were a dead body kepte beside the graue: Euen so the priestes kepe þe; dores with barres and lockes, lest their goddes be spoyled with robbers. They set vp c&abar;dels before them (yea, verely ∧ that many) wherof they can not se one, but eu&ebar; as blockes, so stande they in the temple. It is sayde that the serpentes ∧ wormes, which come of the earth, gnawe out their hertes, eating th&ebar; ∧ their clothes also, and yet they fele it not. Their faces are blacke, thorow the smoke þt; is in the temple. The oules, swalowes, and byrdes fle vpon them, yea, ∧ the cattes r&ubar;ne ouer their heades.

D   By this ye maye be sure, that thei are not goddes, therfore feare them not. The golde that they haue, is to make them beutiful: for all that, excepte some body dyghte of theyr rust, they will geue no shine: and when they were cast into a fourme, thei felt it not. Thei are bought for money, and haue no brethe of lyfe within them. They must be borne vpon mens shoulders, as those that haue no fete: wherby they declare vnto men, that they be nothynge worth. Confounded be they then, that worshippe them. For if they fall to the grounde, they can not ryse vp agayne of th&ebar; selfes. Yea, though one helpe them vp ∧ sette them right, yet are they not able too stande alone: but must haue proppes set vnder th&ebar; lyke dead men. As for the thynge that is offred vnto them, their priestes fell it, ∧ abuse it: yea, the priestes wyfes take thereof, but vnto the seke and poore they geue nothynge of it, the women with child ∧ the m&ebar;struous laye handes of their offringes. By this ye maye be sure, that they are no goddes, therefore be not ye afrayde of them. From wh&ebar;ce commeth it then, that they be called goddes? The wemen sit before the goddes of siluer, golde and woode, and the priestes sit in their temples, hauynge open clothes, whose heades and beerdes are shauen ∧ haue nothyng vpon their heades: roaringe and cryeng vp&obar; their goddes, as men do at the feaste, when one is dead.

E   The priestes also take away the garmentes of the ymages, ∧ decke theyr wyfes and chyldren withal. Whether it be good or euel that any m&abar; do vnto them, they are not able to recompence it: they can neyther sette vp a kyng nor put hym doune. In like maner thei maye neyther geue ryches, nor rewarde euel. Though a man make a vowe vnto them and kepe it not, they wil not requyre it. They can not restore a blynde m&abar; to his sight, nor help any man at his nede. ^noteThey can shewe no mercy to the widdowe, nor do good to the fatherles. Their goddes of wood, stone, golde and siluer, are but euen as other stones, that be hewen of the mountaine. They that worshippe them, shalbe confounded. How shuld they then be tak&ebar; for goddes? yea, how darre men call them goddes? And though the Caldees worshiped them not, hearyng that they were but domme ∧ coulde not speake. Yet they them selfe soffre vnto Bell, and woulde fayne haue him to speake: as who saye, they coulde fele, that maye not mone. But whan these men come to vnderstandyng, they shal forsake th&ebar;, for their goddes haue no feling. F   A great sorte of women gyrde with coardes sit in the stretes, and burne olyue beries. Now if one of them be conueyed awaye, ∧ lye with any such as come by: she casteth her neighburesse in the teth, because she was not so worthely reputed, nor her coorde broken. Whatsoeuer is done for them, it is but vayn and lost: Howe maye it then be thoughte or sayde, that they are goddes? Carpenters and goldsmythes make them, neither be they any other thinge, but euen what the worcke men will make of them. Yea, the goldsmithes th&ebar; selfes that make them, are of no longe continuaunce: How shoulde then the thinges þt; are made of them, be goddes? Vayne therefore are the thynges (yea, very shame is it) that they leaue behynde them for their posteritie. For as soone as there commeth any warre or plage vpon theim, then the priestes ymagyn, where they maye hyde them selfes with them. How can men thynke then þt; they be goddes, whiche neither maye defende th&ebar; selfes from warre, nor deliuer them fro misfortune? For seyng they be but of woode, of stone, of siluer, and of golde: all people and

kynges shall knowe her after, that they be but vayne thynges: yea it shalbe openly declared, that they be no goddes: but euen the very workes of mens handes, ∧ þt; God hath nothinge to do wyth them. They can sett no kynge in the lande ner geue rayne vnto men. They c&abar; geue no sent&ebar;ce of a matter, neyther defend the lande from wronge: For they are not able to do so much as þe; crowe, that flieth betwixt heuen and earth.

G   Whan there happeneth a fyre into þe; house of those gooddes of wod, of syluer and of golde, the prestes wyl escape and saue th&ebar; selnes, but the godes burne as þt; balkes therin They can not wythstande anye kynge or battel: how maye it then be thought or granted, that they be goddes? Moreouer, these godes of wodde, of stone, of golde and syluer maye nether defende them selues from theues ner robbers: yea þe; very wicked are stronger th&ebar; they. These strype them oute of their apparell, that they be clothed wythall, these take their golde ∧ siluer from them, and so get th&ebar; awaye: yet can they not helpe them selues. Therfore it is much better for a man, to be a kynge ∧ to so shewe hys power: or els a profitable vessel in a house, wherin he that oweth it, might haue pleasure: yea or to be a dore in a house, to kepe such things safe as be therin then to be such a vayne god. The Sunne, the Mone and all the starres whan they geue their shyne and light, are obedient, ∧ do men good. Whan the lightenynge glistreth, all is cleare: The wynde bloweth in euery co&ubar;tre and whan God comma&ubar;deth the cloudes to go rounde aboute the whole worlde, they do as they are bidden: wh&ebar; the fyre sent downe from aboue and comma&ubar;ded, it burneth vp hilles and woddes: But as for those goddes, they are not like one of these thinges, neither in beuty ner strength. Wherfore men shulde not thynke, H   ner saye þt; they be goddes, seinge they can nether geue sentence in iudgmente, ner do m&ebar; good. For so much now as ye are sure, that they be no goddes, then feare them not: For they c&abar; neither, speake euel ner good of kynges. They can shewe no tokens in heauen for þe; Heithen, nether shyne as þe; Sunne ner geue light as the mone: yea the vnreasonable beasts are better then they, for they can get them vnder the rose, ∧ do th&ebar; selues good So can ye be certifyed by no maner of meanes, that they be goddes: therfore feare them not. For lyke as a frayboggarde in a garden of Cucumbers kepeth nothynge, euen so are their goddes of wod, of syluer ∧ golde: ∧ lyke as a whytethorne in an orcharde, that euerye byrde sytteth vpon: yea lyke as a dead bodye that is cast in the darcke. Euen so is it wyth those goddes of wodde, syluer and gold. By the purple and scarlet which they haue vpon them, and soone faydeth away, ye maye vnderstande, that they be no goddes: yea they them selues shall be consumed at the laste, which shal be a greate confusyon of þe; lande. Blessed is the Godly m&abar; that hath no Images ∧ worshyppeth none, for he shalbe farre from reprofe. ¶ The ende of the prophete Baruch, which is not in the Canon of the Hebrue

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