A    ^noteBecause of the synnes that ye haue done agaynst God, ye shal be led awaye captyue vnto Babilon, euen off Nabuchodonosor the kynge of Babilon. So when ye be come in to Babilon, ye shall remayne there many yeares, and for a longe season: namely, vij. generacions: ∧ after that wil I bringe you awaye peaceably from th&ebar;ce. Now shal ye se in Babil&obar;, goddes of golde, of syluer, of wodd and of stone: borne vpon mens shulders, to cast out a fearfulnes before the Heithen. But loke that ye do not as the other: be not ye afrayed, and let not the feare of them ouercome you.

B    ^noteTherfore, when ye se the multitude of people worshippinge them behinde ∧ before, saye ye in youre hertes: O LORDE, it is thou, that oughtest only to be worshipped? Myne angel also shal be with you, and I myself wil care for youre soules. As for the tymbre of those goddes, þe; carp&ebar;ter hath polisshed them: yee gylted be they, ∧ layed ouer with syluer, yet are they but vayne thinges, ∧ can not speake. Like as a wench þt; loueth peramours is trymly deckte, euen so are these made ∧ hanged &wt; golde. Crownes of golde verely haue their goddes vpon their heades: so the prestes them selues take the golde and syluer from them, ∧ put it to their owne vses: yee they geue of the same vnto harlottes, &abar;d trymme their whores withall: Agayne, they take it from the whores, and decke their goddes therwith. Yet can not these goddes delyuer them selues from rust and mothes. ^noteWh&ebar; they haue couered them with clothynge off purple, they wype their faces for the dust of the temple, wherof their is moch am&obar;ge th&ebar;. One hath a sceptre in his honde, as though he were iudge of the countre: yet can he not slaye soch as offende him. Another hath a swearde or an axe in his honde, for all that, is he nether able to defende him selfe from batayll, ner fro murtherers.

C   By this ye maye vnderstonde, that they be no goddes: therfore se þt; ye nether worshipe them, ner feare them. For like as a vessel þt; a man vseth, is nothinge worth when it is broken, euen so is it with their goddes. When they be set vp in the temple, their eyes be full of dust, thorow the fete of those that come in. And like as þe; dores are shut in ro&ubar;de aboute vp&obar; him, þt; hath offended the kinge: Or as it were a deed body kepte besyde the graue: Euen so the prestes kepte the dores with barres and lockes, lest their goddes be spoyled with robbers. They set vp c&abar;dels before th&ebar; (yee verely and þt; many) wherof they can not se one, but euen as blockes, so stonde they in the temple. It is sayde, þt; the serpentes and wormes, which come off the earth, gnawe out their hertes, eatinge them ∧ their clothes also, and yet they fele it not. Their faces are blacke, thorow the smoke þt; is in the temple. The oules, swalowes ∧ byrdes fle vpon them, yee and the cattes runne ouer their heades.

D   By this ye maye be sure, that they are not goddes, therfore feare them not. The golde that they haue, is to make them beutifull: for all that, excepte some body dight off their rust, they wil geue no shyne: and when they were cast in to a fourme, they felt it not. They are bought for money, and haue no breth off life within them. They must be borne vpon mens shulders, as those that haue no fete: wherby they declare vnto men, that they be nothynge worth. Confounded be they then, that worshipe them. For yf they fall to the grounde, they can not ryse vp agayne of th&ebar; selues: Yee though one helpe them vp and set them right, yet are they not able to stonde alone: but must haue proppes set vnder them, like deed men. As for the thinge that is offred vnto them, their prestes sell it, &abar;d abuse it: yee the prestes wyues take therof, but vnto the sicke and poore they geue nothinge of it, the women with childe ∧ the m&ebar;struous laye hondes of their offerynges. By this ye maye be sure, that they are not goddes, therfore be not ye afrayde of them. From whence c&obar;meth it th&ebar;, that they be called goddes? The women syt before the goddes of syluer, golde and wodde, and the prestes syt in their temples, hauynge open clothes, whose heades and beerdes are shauen, and haue noth&ibar;ge vpon their heades: roaringe and cryenge vpon their goddes, as men do at the feast, when one is deed.
E   The prestes also take awaye the garmentes of the ymages, and decke their wyues ∧ children withall. Whether it be good or euell þt; eny man do vnto them, they are not able to recompence it: they can nether set vp a kynge, ner put him downe. In like maner they maye nether geue riches, ner rewarde euell. ^noteThough a man make a vowe vnto them &abar;d kepe it not, they wil not requyre it. They can

not restore a blynde m&abar; to his sight, ner helpe eny m&abar; at his nede. They c&abar; shewe no mercy to the wyddowe, ner do good to þe; fatherles. Their goddes of wodd, stone, golde ∧ syluer, are but euen as other stones, þt; be hew&ebar; of þe; mountayne. They þt; worshipe th&ebar;, shal be c&obar;founded. How shulde they then be taken for goddes? yee how darre men call th&ebar; goddes? And though the caldees worshiped th&ebar; not, hearinge þt; they were but domme ∧ coude not speake: Yet they them selues offre vnto Bel, and wolde fayne haue him to speake: as who saye, they coude fele, þt; maye not moue. But when these m&ebar; come to vnderst&obar;dinge, they shall forsake them, for their goddes haue no felinge. F   A greate sorte off women gyrded with coardes, syt in the stretes, ∧ burne olyue beries. Now yf one off them be conveyed awaye, ∧ lye &wt; eny soch as come by: she casteth hir neghburesse in the teth, because she was not so worthely reputed, ner hir coorde broken. What so euer is done for them, it is but in vayne &abar;d lost: How maye it th&ebar; be thought or sayde, þt; they are goddes? Carpenters ∧ goldsmythes make th&ebar;, nether be they eny other thinge, but euen what the worke men wil make of them. Yee the goldsmithes them selues that make th&ebar;, are of no longe c&obar;tynuaunce: How shulde then the th&ibar;ges that are made of them, be goddes? Vayne therfore are the thinges (yee very shame is it) that they leaue behinde th&ebar; for their posterite. For as soone as there c&obar;meth eny warre or plage vpon th&ebar;, then the prestes ymagyn, where they maye hyde th&ebar; selues with th&ebar;. How can men thynke then, that they be goddes, which nether maye defende them selues from warre, ner delyuer th&ebar; fro mysfortune? For seynge they be but of wodd, of stone, of syluer and of golde: all people ∧ kynges shal knowe herafter, that they be but vayne thinges: yee it shalbe openly declared, that they be no goddes: but euen the very workes off m&ebar;s h&obar;des, ∧ that God hath nothinge to do with th&ebar;. They can set no kynge in the londe ner geue rayne vnto men. They can geue no sentence of a matter, nether defende the londe fr&obar; wronge: For they are not able to do so moch as a crowe, that flyeth betwixte heuen and earth

G   Wh&ebar; there happeneth a fyre in to the house of those goddes of wodde, of syluer and of golde, the prestes wil escape ∧ saue th&ebar; selues, but the goddes burne as the balkes therin They can not withst&obar;de eny kynge or batell: how maye it then be thought or graunted, that they be goddes? Morouer, these goddes of wodde, of stone, of golde ∧ syluer maye nether defende th&ebar; selues from theues ner robbers: yee þe; very wicked are stronger th&ebar; they. These strype them out off their apparell, that they be clothed withall, these take their golde ∧ syluer fr&obar; th&ebar;, and so get th&ebar; awaye: yet c&abar; they not helpe th&ebar;selues. Therfore it is moch better for a man, to be a kinge ∧ so to shewe his power: or els a profitable vessel in a house, wherin he þt; oweth it, might haue pleasure: yee or to be a dore in a house, to kepe soch thinges safe as be therin: th&ebar; to be soch a vayne god. The S&obar;ne, the Mone ∧ all the starres when they geue their shyne ∧ light, are obedient, ∧ do men good: When the lightenynge glistreth, all is cleare: The wynde bloweth in euery countre, ∧ wh&ebar; God c&obar;maundeth the cloudes to go rounde aboute the whole worlde, they do as they are bydden: when the fyre is sent downe fr&obar; aboue ∧ c&obar;maunded, it burneth vp hilles &abar;d woddes: But as for those goddes, they are not like one off these thynges, nether in beuty ner str&ebar;gth. H   Wherfore m&ebar; shulde not thynke, ner saye that they be goddes, seynge they c&abar; nether geue sentence in iudgment, ner do men good. For so moch now as ye are sure, that they be no goddes, then feare them not: For they can nether speake euell ner good of kynges. They c&abar;shewe no tokens in heau&ebar; for þe; Heithen, nether shyne as the S&obar;ne, ner geue light as the Mone: yee þe; vnreasonable beastes are better then they: for they can get th&ebar; vnder the rofe, and do them selues good: So can ye be certified by no maner off meanes, that they be goddes: therfore feare th&ebar; not. For like as a frayboggarde in a garden off Cucumbers kepeth nothinge, euen so are their goddes of wod, of syluer ∧ golde: and like as a whyte thorne in an orcharde, that euery byrde sytteth vpon: yee like as a deed body that is cast in the darcke, Euen so is it with those goddes of wodde, syluer and golde. By the purple and scarlet which they haue vpon th&ebar;, &abar;d soone faydeth awaye, ye maye vnderstonde, that they be no goddes: yee they them selues shal be c&obar;sumed at the last, which shal be a greate c&obar;fucion of the londe. Blessed is the godly man, þt; hath no ymages ∧ worshippeth none, for he shalbe farre from reprofe. The ende of the prophet Baruch which is not in the Canon of the hebrue.

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