A   In the thyrtye yeare of the fall of the cytie, I was at Babylon, and laye troubled vpon my bed &abar;d my thoughtes came vp ouer my hert: for I sawe the desolacyon of Syon, and the plenteous wealth of th&ebar; that dwelt at Babylon: and my sprete was sore moued, so that I beg&abar;ne to speake fearfull wordes to the most hyest, and sayde: O Lorde, Lorde, thou spakest at the begynnynge, wh&ebar; thou

pl&abar;tedst the earthe (&abar;d that thy selfe alone) and gauest commaundement vnto the people, and a body vnto Adam, which was a creature of thy handes, and hast brethed in hym the breth of lyfe: and so he lyued before the, and thou leddest hym into paradyse, which garden of pleasure thy ryght hande had planted, or euer the earth was made. And vnto him thou gauest commaundem&ebar;t to loue thy waye, which he transgressed, ∧ immedyatly thou appointedest death in h&ibar;, and in his generacyons. Of hym came nacyons, trybes, people and kynredes out of nombre. ^noteAnd euery people walked after their awne will, B   and dyd nyce thynges before the: ∧ as for thy commaundem&ebar;tes, they despysed them.

^noteBut in processe of tyme thou broughttest the water floude, vp&obar; those that dwelt in the world, and destroyedst them. And lyke as the death was in Adam, so was þe; water floude also &ibar; these. Neuerthelesse one of them þu; leftest: namely Noe wyth hys housholde, of whome came all ryghteous men. And it happened that wh&ebar; they that dwelt vpon the earth, beganne to multyplye, and had gott&ebar; many chyldren, and were a great people, they beganne to be more vngodly then the fyrst.

Now when they all lyued so wyckedly before the, ^note thou dydest chose the a man fr&obar; amonge them, whose name was Abraham. Hym thou louedst, &abar;d vnto him onely thou shewedst thy wyll, and madest an euerlastynge couenaunt with hym, promysynge hym, that thou woldest neuer forsake his sede. ^noteAnd vnto hym þu; gauest Isaac, ^note vnto Isaac also thou gauest Iacob &abar;d Esau. As for Iacob thou dydest chose hym, and put backe Esau. ^noteAnd so Iacob became a great multytude.

C   And it happened that when thou leddest hys sede out of Egypte, ^note thou broughtest them vp to the mounte Syon, bowyng downe the heau&ebar;s, settyng fast the earth, mouynge the grounde, makyng the depthes to shake, and troublynge the worlde: And thy glory wente thorow foure portes of fyre, ∧ earth quakes, and wyndes, and colde: that thou myghtest geue the lawe vnto þe; sede of Iacob, ∧ dilig&ebar;ce vnto þe; generaci&obar; of Israel

And yet tokest thou not awaye from th&ebar; that wycked hert, þt; thy lawe myght br&ibar;ge forth frute in them. For the fyrst Ad&abar; bare a wycked hert, transgressed, and was ouercome, ∧ so be all they that are borne of him. ^noteThus remayned weaknes with the lawe &ibar; the herte of the people, &wt; the wyckednesse of the rote: so that the good departed awaye and the euell abode styll. So the tymes passed awaye and the yeares were brought to an ende. ^noteThen dydest thou rayse the vp a seruaunt called Dauid, ^note whom thou commaundedst to buylde a cyte vnto thy name, and to offre vp incense and sacryfyce vnto þe; therin. Thys was done now many yeares. Then the inhabyters of the cyte forsoke the and in all thynges dyd euen as Adam and all his generacyons had done: for they also had a wicked herte.

D   And so thou gauest thy cyte ouer into the h&abar;des of thyne enemyes. Are they of Babylon then better &abar;d more righteous then thy people, that they shall therfore haue the domynyon of Syon? For when I came there and sawe theyr vngodlynes, and so greate wyckednesse, that it coulde not be nombred: yee, wh&ebar; my soule sawe so many euel doers (in the thyrtye yeare) my herte fayled me, for I sawe, how thou suffrest them in soch vngodlynes ∧ sparest the wicked doers: but thyne awne people hast thou roted out and preserued thyne enemyes, ∧ thys hast thou not shewed me.

I cannot perceaue how thys happeneth. Do they of Babylon then better, then they of Sy&obar;? Or is there any other people, that knoweth the, sauynge the people of Israel? Or what generacyon hath so beleued thy couenauntes, as Iacob? And yet theyr rewarde appeareth not, &abar;d theyr labour hath no frute. For I haue gone here ∧ there thorow the Heathen, and I se that they be rich and wealthy, and thyncke not vp&obar; thy commaundementes. Weye thou therfore oure wyckednesse now in the bala&ubar;ce, and theirs also that dwell in the worlde, and so shall thy name be no where founde but in Israel. Or where is there a people vp&obar; earthe, that hath not synned before þe;? Or what people hath so kepte thy comm&abar;dementes? Thou shalt finde, that Israel by name hath kepte thy preceptes, but not the other people and Heathen.

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