1   O how good, and sweete is thy spirit ô Lord in al!

2   And therfore those, that erre, by partes thou doest chastise: and doest admonish, and speake to them, concerning the thinges wherin they sinne: that leauing naughtines, they may beleue in thee ô Lord.

3   For, those old inhabitantes of thy holie land, whom thou didst abhorre,

4   because they did workes odious to thee by sorceries, and vniust sacrifices,

5   and the murderers of their owne children without mercie, and eaters of mens bowels, and deuourers of bloud from the middes ^note of thy sacrament,

6   and the parents authors of aydelesse soules, thou wouldst destroy by the handes of our parents,

7   that they might receiue a peregrination worthie of the children of God, which is a land of al most deare to thee.

8   But them also as men thou didst spare, and didst send forerunners of thine host, waspes, that by litle and litle they might destroy them.

9   Not because thou wast vnable in battel to subdewe the impious to the iust, or with cruel beastes, or with a sharpe word to destroy them together:

10   but iudging by partes thou gauest place of repentance, being not ignorant, that the nation of them is wicked, and their malice ^note natural, & that their cogitation could not be changed for euer.

11   For it was a cursed seede from the begynning: neither fearing any, didst thou geue pardon to their sinnes.

12   For who shal say to thee: what hast thou done? or who shal stand against thy iudgement? or who in thy sight shal come reuenger of the wicked men? or who shal impute it to thee, if the nations perish, which thou hast made?

13   For there is no other God but thou, who hast care of al, that thou mayst shew that thou doest not geue iudgement vniustly.

14   Neither king, nor tyrant in thy sight shal enquire of them, whom thou hast destroyed.

15   For so much then as thou art iust, thou

doest dispose al thinges iustly: thou also estemest it disagreable from thy powre, to condemne him, who ought not to be punished.

16   For thy powre is the begynning of iustice: and for this that thou art Lord of al, thou makest thyself to spare al.

17   For thou shewest powre, which art not thought to be absolute in powre, and thou conuincest the boldnes of them, that know thee not.

18   But thou dominatour of powre, iudgest with tranquilitie, and with great reuerence disposest of vs: for ^note it is in thy powre when thou wilt, to be able.

19   And thou hast taught thy people by such workes, that they must be iust and gentle, and hast made thy children of good hope: because iudging thou geuest in sinnes place of repentance.

20   For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy seruants, and that deserued to die, with so great consideration, geuing time and place, whereby they might be changed from their wickednes.

21   With what diligence hast thou iudged thy children, to whose parents thou gauest othes and couenants of good promises?

22   Therfore when thou geuest vs discipline, thou scourgest our enemies very manie wayes, that iudging we may thinke vpon thy goodnes: and when we are iudged, we may hope for thy mercie.

23   Wherfore to them also, which in their life haue liued foolishly & vniustly, thou hast geuen great torments by the same thinges, which they did worshipe.

24   For they wandered long in the way of errour, esteming for goddes those thinges, that in beasts ^note are superfluous, liuing after the maner of sensles infants.

25   For this cause thou hast geuen iudgement on them as on sensles children to be in derision.

26   But they that were not amended by scornes and reprehensions, haue tried the worthie iudgement of God.

27   For in what thinges they suffering tooke indignation, by those whom they thought goddes, when seing they were destroyed in them, him, whom in time past they denied that they knewe, they acknowleged the true God: ^note for the which cause the end also of their condemnation shal come vpon them.

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