1   In the thirtieth yeere after the fall of the citie, as I was at Babylon, I lay troubled vpon my bed, and my thoughts came vp to mine heart,

2   Because I saw the desolation of Sion, and the wealth of them that dwelt at Babylon.

3   So my spirite was sore mooued, so that I began to speake fearefull wordes to the most High, and sayde,

4   O Lord, Lord, thou spakest at the beginning when thou alone plantedst the earth, and gauest commaundement vnto the people,

5    ^noteAnd a body vnto Adam, without soule,

who was also the workemanship of thine handes, and hast breathed in him the breath of life, so that he liued before thee,

6   And leddest him into Paradise, which thy right hande had planted, or euer the earth ^note brought forth.

7   Euen then thou gauest him commaundement to loue thy way: but he transgressed it, and immediatly thou appointedst death to him and his generation, of whome came nations, tribes, people & kinreds out of number.

8    ^noteAnd euery people walked after their owne will, and did wonderfull things before thee, and despised thy commaundements.

9    ^noteBut at the time appoynted thou broughtest the flood vpon those that dwelt in the worlde, and destroyedst them,

10   So that by the flood, that came to euery one of them, which came by death vnto Adam,

11   Yet thou leftest one, euen ^note Noe, with his housholde, of whome came all righteous men.

12   And when they that dwelt vpon the earth, began to multiplie, and the number of the children, people and many nations were increased, they began to be more vngodly then the first.

13   Now when they liued wickedly before thee, ^note thou diddest choose thee a man from among th&ebar;, whose name was ^note Abraham.

14   Whom thou louedst, and vnto whom onely thou shewedst thy will,

15   And madest an euerlasting couenant with him, promising him that thou wouldest neuer forsake his seede.

16    ^noteAnd vnto him thou gauest Isaac, ^note vnto Isaac also thou gauest Iacob & Esau, ^note and diddest choose Iacob, and cast off Esau, and so Iacob became a great multitude.

17   And when thou leddest his seede out of Egypt, ^note thou broughtest them vp to mount Sina,

18   And enclinedst the heauens and bowedst downe the earth, and diddest mooue the ground, and cause the depthes to shake, and diddest astonish the world.

19   And thy glorie went thorowe foure gates of fyre, with earthquakes, winde and colde, that thou mightest giue the Lawe vnto the seede of Iacob, and that which the generation of Israel should diligently obserue.

20   Yet tookest thou not away from them the wicked heart, that thy Law might bring forth fruit in them.

21   For ^note Adam first hauing a wicked heart, was ouercome and vanquished, and all they that are borne of him.

22   Thus remained weakenesse ioyned with the Lawe in the heartes of the people, with the wickednesse of the roote: so that the good departed away, and the euil abode still.

23   So the times passed away, and the yeres were brought to an end, ^note till thou diddest raise thee vp a seruant called Dauid,

24    ^noteWhom thou commandedst to build a citie vnto thy Name, to call vpon thee therein with incense and sacrifice.

25   When this was done many yeeres, the inhabitants forsooke thee,

26   Following the wayes of Adam and al his generation: for they also had a wicked heart.

27   Therefore thou gauest thy citie ouer into the handes of thine enemies.

28   But doe they that dwel at Babylon, any better, that they should haue the dominion of Sion?

29   For when I came thither, and saw their wicked deedes without number (for this is the thirtieth yeere that I see many trespacing) I was discouraged.

30   For I sawe, how thou sufferedst them that sinne, and sparedst the wicked doers, where as thou hast destroyed thine owne people, and preserued thine enemies, and thou hast not shewed it.

31   I can not perceiue howe this commeth to passe. Are the deedes of Babylon better then they of Sion?

32   Or is there any other people that knoweth thee besides Israel? or what generation hath so beleeued thy testimonies, as Iacob?

33   And yet their rewarde appeareth not, and their labour hath no fruite: for I haue gone here and there thorowout the heathen, and I see them flourish, & thinke not vpon thy commandements.

34   Weigh thou therefore our wickednes nowe in the balance, and theirs also that dwell in the worlde, and no mention of thee shalbe founde but in Israel.

35   Or when is it that they that dwel on the earth, haue not sinned in thy sight? or what people hath so kept thy commandements?

36   Thou shalt surely finde that Israel by name hath kept thy precepts, but not the heathen.

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