CAP. XLIV.
1 And now here thou, Jacob, my seruaunt,
and Irael, whom I ches.
2 These
thingus seith the Lord, makende and
foormende thee fro the woombe, thin
helpere, Wile thou not drede, my seruaunt
Jacob, and thou most ri&yogh;t, whom
I ches.
3 I shal heelden out forsothe watris
vp on the threstende, and flowingus
vp on the drie; I shall heelden out my
spirit vp on thi sed, and my blessing vp
on thi stoc.
4 And buriowne thei shuln
among erbes, as withies, `or salewis,
bisyde the syde flowende watris.
5 This
shal seyn, Of the Lord I am, and he shal
inwardly clepen in the name of Jacob;
and this shal write with his hond to the
Lord, and in the name of Irael he shal
be licned to.
6 These thingus seith the
Lord, king of Irael, and his a&yogh;een biere,
Lord of ostes, I the firste and I the laste,
and with oute me is not God.
7 Who lic of
me? clepe he, and telle, and the ordre expoune
to me, sithen I ordeynede the olde
puple; thingus to come, and that ben to
come, telle he to them.
8 Wileth not dreden,
ne beth disturbid; fro thennus to heeren
thee I made, and tolde; &yogh;ee ben my witnesses.
Whether is God withoute me, and
a foormere, whom I haue not knowe?
9 The foormeres of the mawmet alle no&yogh;t
ben, and the most loued thingus of them
shul not profiten to them; thei witnesses
of hem ben, for thei seen not, ne vnderstonde,
that thei be confoundid.
10 Who
-- --
foormede God, and a grauen thing &yogh;etede,
to no thing profitable?
11 Lo! alle his parceneres
shul be confoundid; the forgeres
forsothe ben of men. Thei shuln come togidere,
alle thei shul stonde, and inwardli
dreden, and ben confoundid togidere.
12 The
yren smyth with the file wro&yogh;te; in coles,
and in hameres foormede it, and wro&yogh;te
in the arm of his strengthe. He shal
hungren, and failen; he shal not drinke
water, and he shal waxe weri.
13 The
crafti man tree werkere stra&yogh;te out the
reule, and foormede it in a grauyng iren;
he maade it in corneres, and in a cumpas
turnede it abouten; and made an ymage
of a man, as a fair man wonende in hous.
14 He hee&yogh; doun the cedris, and toc the
kesteyn tree, and the oek, that hadde
stonde among the trees of the wilde
wode; he plauntede the pyne tree, that
with rein he nurshede,
15 and made is to
men in to fyr. He toc of hem, and is
chaufed, and brende vp, and booc loeues;
of the remnaunt forsothe he wro&yogh;te a
god, and honourede, and made grauen
thing, and is bowid biforn it.
16 The myddel
of it he brende with fyr, and of his
myddel, flesh he sethede, and eet; he
sethede potage, and is fild; `and is chaufid,
and seide, Vah, `or weel, I am hat; Y
sa&yogh; the fyr.
17 The remnaunt forsothe of it
a god he made, and a grauen thing to
hym; he is bowid biforn it, and honoureth
it, and inwardli besecheth, seiende,
Delyuere me, for my god thou art.
18 They
knewen not, ne vnderstoden, forsothe thei
for&yogh;eeten, lest ther e&yogh;en see&yogh;en, and lest
thei vnderstoden in ther herte.
19 Thei bethenken
not in ther mynde, ne knowen,
ne felen, that thei sey, The myddel of it
I brende with fyr, and I book vp on his
coles loeues, and seth flesh, and eet; and
of his remnaunt a maumet I shal make,
biforn the stoc the tree I shal kutte.
20 His
part is askus; the vnwise herte shal honouren
-- --
it, and yt shal not delyuere his
soule, ne seyn, A strong lesyng is in my
ri&yogh;thond.
21 Haue mynde of these, Jacob
and Irael, for my seruaunt thou art;
I foormede thee, my seruaunt thou art,
Irael; thou shalt not for&yogh;ete me.
22 I dide
awei as a cloude thi wickednesses, and
as a litil cloude thi synnes; turne a&yogh;een
to me, for I a&yogh;een bo&yogh;te thee.
23 &YOGH;ee heuenus,
preiseth, for mercy dide the Lord;
inwardli io&yogh;eth, &yogh;ee vtmostus of the erthe;
a&yogh;ensouneth, &yogh;ee hillis, preising; the wilde
wode, and eche tree of it; for the Lord
a&yogh;een bo&yogh;te Jacob, and Irael shal glorien.
24 These thingus seith the Lord, thin a&yogh;eenbiere,
and thi foormere of the wombe, I
am the Lord, doende alle thingus, strecchende
out heuenus alone, stablende the
erthe, and no man with me;
25 voide makende
tocnes of deuynoures, and the deuel
sacrifyeres in to wodnesse turnende; alturnende
wyse men bacward, the kunnyng
of them folie makende;
26 rerende
the wrd of his seruaunt, and the counseil
of his messageres fulfillende; that sey,
Jerusalem, thou shalt be dwellid; and to
the cites of Juda, &YOGH;ee shul ben bild vp,
and his desertes I shal rere;
27 that sey to
the depthe, Be thou desolat, and thi
flodys I shal make drie;
28 that sey to
Ciro, My shepperde thou art, and al my
wil thou shalt fulfille; that sey to Jerusalem,
Thou shalt be bild vp; and to
the temple, Thou shalt be foundid.
Wycliffe (Early) [1850], THE HOLY BIBLE, CONTAINING THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, WITH THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS, IN THE EARLIEST ENGLISH VERSIONS MADE FROM THE LATIN VULGATE BY JOHN WYCLIFFE AND HIS FOLLOWERS: Edited by THE REV. JOSIAH FORSHALL, F.R.S. etc. Late Fellow of Exeter College, and SIR FREDERIC MADDEN, K.H. F.R.S. etc. Keeper of the MSS. in the British Museum (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD) [word count] [B02010].
