1 And these are the wordes of the booke, which were writte by Baruch the sonne of Nerias, the sonne of Maasias, ye sonne of Sedechias, the sonne of Helchias, at Babylon,
2 In the fifth yere, and in the seuenth day of the moneth, what time as the Chaldees toke Hierusalem, and brent it vp with fyre.
3 And Baruch did reade the wordes of this booke, that Iechonias the sonne of Ioachin king of Iuda might heare, and in the presence of all the people that were come to heare the booke,
4 And before all the nobles, the kinges sonnes, and before the elders, and before the whole people, from the lowest vnto the highest: before all them that dwelt at Babylon, by the water of Sody,
5 Which when they heard it, wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lorde.
6 They made a collection also of money, according to euery mans power:
7 And sent it to Hierusalem vnto Ioachin the sonne of Helchia, the sonne of Salom priest, with the other priestes, and to all the people which were with him at Hierusalem,
8 (What time as they had gotten the vessels of the temple of the Lord that were taken away out of the temple, that they might bring them againe into the lande of Iuda the tenth day of the moneth Siuan [namely] siluer vessels which Sedechias the sonne of Iosias king of Iuda had made,)
9 After that Nabuchodonozor king of Babylon had taken Iechonias, with al his princes, lordes, and all the people, and led them captiue from Hierusalem vnto Babylon:
10 And they saide, Beholde, we haue sent you money to bye you burnt offringes and incense withall, prepare a meate offering, and offer for sinne vpon the aulter of the Lorde our God:
11 And pray for the prosperitie of Nabuchodonozor king of Babylon, and for the welfare of Balthasar his sonne, that their dayes may be vpon earth as the dayes of heauen:
12 That God also may geue vs strength, and lighten our eyes, that we may lyue vnder the defence of Nabuchodonozor king of Babylon, and vnder the protection of Balthasar his sonne, that we may long do them seruice, and finde fauour in their sight.
13 Pray for vs also vnto the Lorde our God: for we haue sinned against the lord our God, and vnto this day is not his wrath turned yet away from vs.
14 And see that ye reade this booke, which we haue sent vnto you to be rehearsed in the temple of the Lorde vpon the hye dayes, and at time conuenient.
15 Thus shall ye say: The Lorde our God is righteous, but we are worthy of confusion and shame, lyke as it is come to passe this day vnto all Iuda, and to euery one that dwelleth at Hierusalem,
16 To our kinges, princes, priestes, prophetes, and to our fathers.
17 We haue sinned before the Lorde our God, we haue not put our trust in him, nor geuen him credence,
18 We haue not obeyed him, we haue not hearkened vnto the voyce of the Lorde our God, to walke in the commaundementes that he gaue vs openly.
19 Since the day that he brought our forefathers out of the lande of Egypt, vnto this present day, we haue ben euer a misbeleuing and an vnfaithfull people vnto the Lorde our God, destroying our selues vtterly, and shrincking backe, that we should not heare his voyce.
20 Wherefore there are come vpon vs great plagues and diuers curses, lyke as the Lord deuised by Moyses his seruaunt, which brought our fathers out of the lande of Egypt, to geue vs a lande that floweth with milke & hony, lyke as it is to see this day.
21 Neuerthelesse, we haue not hearkened vnto the voyce of the Lorde our God, according to all the wordes of the prophetes, whom he sent vnto vs [and to our rulers:]
22 But euery man folowed his owne minde and wicked imagination, to offer vnto straunge goddes, and to do euil in the sight of the Lorde our God.
1 For the which cause the Lorde our God hath perfourmed his deuice, whereof he certified vs, & our heades that ruled in Hierusalem, yea & our kinges, our princes, with all Israel and Iuda:
2 And such plagues hath the Lorde brought vpon vs, as neuer came to passe vnder the heauen, lyke as it is fulfilled in Hierusalem, according as it is written in the lawe of Moyses,
3 That a man shoulde eate the flesh of his owne sonne, & the flesh of his owne daughter.
4 Moreouer, he hath deliuered them into the handes of all the kinges that are rounde about vs, to be confounded and desolate, and scattered them abrode in al landes and nations.
5 Thus are we brought beneath and not aboue, because we haue sinned against the Lorde our God, and haue not ben obedient vnto his voyce.
6 Therefore the Lorde our God is righteous, and we with our fathers [as reason is] are bronght to open shame, as it is to see this day.
7 And as for these plagues that are come vpon vs alredy, the Lorde had deuised them for vs:
8 Yet would we not pray vnto the Lord our God, that we might euery man turne from his vngodlie wayes.
9 So the Lord hath caused such plagues to come vpon vs: for he is righteous in all his workes which he hath comaunded vs:
10 Which we also haue not done, nor hearkened vnto his voyce for to walke in the commaundementes of the Lorde, that he hath geuen vnto vs.
11 And nowe O Lorde God of Israel, thou that hast brought thy people out of the lande of Egypt with a mightie hande, with tokens and wonders, with thy great power & outstretched arme, and hast gotten thy selfe a name, as it is come to passe this day:
12 O Lord our God, we haue sinned, we haue done wickedly, we haue behaued our selues vngodly in all thy righteousnesses.
13 Turne thy wrath from vs [we beseche thee,] for we are but a fewe left among the heathe where thou hast scatered vs.
14 Heare our prayers O Lorde, and our petitions, bring vs out of captiuitie for thyne owne sake, get vs fauour in the sight of them which haue led vs away:
15 That all landes may know that thou art the Lorde our God, and that Israel and his generation calleth vpon thy name.
16 O Lorde loke downe from thy holy house vpon vs, encline thyne eare and heare vs.
17 Open thyne eyes, and beholde: for the dead that be gone downe to their graues, & whose soules are out of their bodies, ascribe vnto the Lorde neither prayse nor righteousnes:
18 But the soule that is vexed for the multitude [of her sinnes,] which goeth on heauyly and weakly, whose eyes begin to faile, yea such a soule ascribeth prayse and righteousnes vnto the Lorde.
19 For we poure out our prayers before thee, and require mercie in thy sight O Lorde our God, not for any godlynes of our fathers:
20 But because thou hast sent out thy wrath and indignation vpon vs, according as thou diddest threaten vs by thy seruauntes the prophetes, saying:
21 Thus saith the Lorde, Bowe downe your shoulders and neckes, and serue the king of Babylon: so shall ye remaine still in the lande that I gaue vnto your fathers.
22 But if ye wyll not heare the voyce of the Lorde your God, to serue the king of Babylon,
23 I wyll destroy you in the cities of Iuda within Hierusalem and without: I wyll also take from you the voyce of mirth and the voyce of ioy, the voyce of the bridegrome and the voyce of the bride, and there shal no man dwel more in the lande.
24 But they would not hearken vnto thy voyce, to do the king of Babylon seruice: and therefore hast thou perfourmed the wordes that thou spakest by thy seruauntes the prophetes: [namely] that the bones of our kinges and the bones of our fathers should be translated out of their places:
25 And lo, nowe are they layde out in the heate of the sunne, and in the colde of the night, and dead in great miserie, with hunger, with sword, [with pestilence] and are cleane cast foorth.
26 As for the temple wherein thy name was called vpo, thou hast layd it waste, as it is to see this day, and that for the wickednesse of the house of Israel and the house of Iuda.
27 O Lorde our God, thou hast intreated vs after all thy goodnes, and according to all that great louing mercie of thyne,
28 Lyke as thou spakest by thy seruaunt Moyses, in the day when thou diddest commaunde him to write thy lawe before the children of Israel, saying:
29 If ye wyl not hearke vnto my voyce, then shall this great multitude be turned into a very small people among the nations, for I wyll scatter them abrode.
30 Notwithstanding, I am sure that this folke wyl not heare me, for it is an hard necked people: but in the lande of their captiuitie they shall remember them selues,
31 And learne to know that I am the Lorde their God, when I geue them an heart to vnderstande, and eares to heare.
32 Then shal they prayse me in the lande of their captiuitie, and thinke vpon my name.
33 Then shal they turne them from their harde backes, and from their vngodlines: then shall they remember the thinges that happened vnto their fathers which sinned against me.
34 So wyll I bring them againe into the lande which I promysed with an oth vnto their fathers Abraham, Isahac, and Iacob, and they shalbe lordes of it, yea I wyll encrease them, and not minishe them.
35 And I wyll make an other couenaunt with them, such one as shall endure for euer: [namely] that I will be their God, and they shalbe my people: and I will no more dryue my people the children of Israel out of the lande that I haue geuen them.
1 And nowe, O Lorde almightie, thou God of Israel: our soule that is in trouble, and our spirite that is vexed cryeth vnto thee:
2 Heare vs O Lord, and haue pitie vpon vs, for thou art a mercifull God: be gracious vnto vs, for we haue sinned before thee.
3 Thou endurest for euer: shoulde we then vtterly perishe?
4 O Lorde almightie, thou God of Israel, heare nowe the prayer of the dead Israelites and of their children, whiche haue sinned before thee, and not hearkened vnto the voyce of the Lorde their God, for the whiche cause these plagues hang nowe vpon vs.
5 O Lord remember not the wickednesse of our forefathers, but thinke vpon thy power and name nowe at this time:
6 For thou art the Lorde our God, and thee O Lorde will we prayse.
7 For thou hast put thy feare in our heartes, to the intent that we should call vpon thy name and prayse thee in our captiuitie, & that we might turne from the wickednesse of our forefathers that sinned before thee.
8 Behold, we are yet this day in our captiuitie, where as thou hast scattered vs to be an abhomination, curse, and subiect to exactions: like as it hath happened vnto our fathers also, because of al their wickednesse and departing from thee.
9 O Israel heare the commaundementes of lyfe, ponder them well with thyne eares, that thou maiest learne wisdome.
10 But howe happeneth it Israel that thou art in thyne enemies lande? thou art waxen olde in a straunge countrey, and defiled with the dead.
11 Why art thou become lyke them that go downe to their graues?
12 Euen because thou hast forsaken the well of wysdome.
13 For if thou hadst walked in the way of God truely, thou shouldest haue remayned still safe in thyne owne lande.
14 O learne then where is wysdome, where vertue is, where vnderstanding is: that thou mayest knowe also from whence commeth long continuance and lyfe, the light of the eyes, and quietnesse.
15 Who euer founde out her place? or who came euer into her treasures?
16 Where are the princes of the heathen become, and such as ruled the beastes vpon the earth,
17 They that had their pastime with the foules of the ayre, they that hoorded vp siluer & gold wherin men trust so much, and made no end of their gathering?
18 What is become of them that coyned siluer, and were so carefull, and coulde not bring their workes to passe?
19 They be rooted out and gone downe to hell, and other men are come vp in their steades.
20 Young men haue seene light, and dwelt vpon earth: but the way of reformation haue they not knowen.
21 Nor vnderstande the pathes thereof: neither haue their children receaued it, yea right farre is it from them.
22 It hath not ben heard of in the land of Chanaan, neither hath it ben seene at Theman.
23 The Agarenes sought after wisdome, but that whiche is earthly, like as the marchauntes of the lande do: they of Theman are cunning also, they labour for wysdome & vnderstanding: but the way of true wysedome they knowe not, neither do they thinke vpon the pathes therof.
24 O Israel howe great is the house of God? and howe large is the place of his possession?
25 Great is he, and hath none ende: yea hye and vnmeasurable.
26 What is become of those famous giauntes, that were so great of bodies, and so worthy men of warre?
27 Those hath not the Lorde chosen, neither haue they founde the way of reformation:
28 Therfore were they destroyed, and for so much as they had no wysdome, they perished because of their foolishenesse.
29 Who hath gone vp into heauen, to take wisdome there, and brought her downe from the cloudes?
30 Who hath gone ouer the sea to fynde her, and hath chosen her aboue golde, and so brought her hyther?
31 No man knoweth the wayes of wysedome, neither is there any that can seke out her pathes.
32 But he that woteth all thinges, knoweth her, and hath founde her out with his foreknowledge: this same is he whiche prepared the earth at the beginning, and filled it with all maner of foules and beastes.
33 When he sendeth out the light, it goeth: and when he calleth it againe, it obeyeth him with feare.
34 The starres kepe their watch and geue their light, yea and that gladly: When he calleth them they say, Here we be: and so with chearfulnesse they shewe light vnto him that made them.
35 This is our God, and there shal none other be compared vnto him.
36 It is he that hath founde out all wysedome, and hath geuen her vnto Iacob his seruaunt, and to Israel his beloued.
37 Afterwarde did he shewe hym selfe vpon earth, and dwelt among men.
1 This is the booke of the commaundementes of God, and the law that endureth for euer: all they that kepe it shall come to lyfe, but such as forsake it shall come to death.
2 Turne thee O Iacob, and take holde of it, walke by this way thorowe his brightnesse and shyne.
3 Geue not thyne honour to another, and thy worship to a straunge people.
4 O Israel, howe happy are we, seyng that God hath shewed vs such thinges as are pleasaunt vnto hym?
5 Be of good cheare thou people of God, O thou auncient Israel.
6 Now are ye solde among the heathen, howbeit not for your vtter destruction: but because ye prouoked God the Lorde to wrath and displeasure, therfore were ye deliuered vnto your enemies.
7 For ye displeased the euerlasting God that made you, offering vnto deuils, and not to God.
8 Ye haue forgotten hym that brought you vp, and ye haue greeued Hierusalem that nursed you.
9 When she sawe that the wrath of God was comming vpon you, she said: Hearken O ye that dwell about Sion, for God hath brought me into great heauinesse.
10 And why? I see the captiuitie of my people, of my sonnes and daughters, which the euerlasting God will bring vpon them.
11 With ioy dyd I norishe them: but nowe must I leaue them with weeping and sorowe.
12 Let no man reioyce ouer me wyddowe and forsaken, which for the sinnes of my children am desolate of euery man: For why? they departed from the lawe of God.
13 They woulde not know his righteousnesse, nor walke in the way of his commaundementes: and as for the pathes of trueth and godlinesse, they had no lust to go in them.
14 O ye dwellers about Sion, come and let vs call to remembraunce the captiuitie that the euerlasting God hath brought vpon my sonnes & my daughters.
15 He hath brought a people vpon them from farre, an vncurteous people, and of a straunge language: whiche neither regarde the olde, nor pitie the young.
16 These haue caried away the deare beloued of my widdowes, leauing me alone both desolate and childlesse.
17 But alas, what can I helpe you?
18 Nowe he that brought these plagues vpon you, deliuer you also from the handes of your enemies.
19 Go your way O my children, go your way: for I am desolate and forsaken.
20 I haue put of the clothing of peace, & put vpon me the sacke cloth of prayer, and for my time I will call vpon the most hyghest.
21 Be of good cheare O my children, crye vnto the Lorde, and he shall deliuer you from the power of the princes your enemies.
22 For veryly I haue euer a good hope of your prosperous health, yea a very gladnesse is come vpon me from the holy one, because of the mercie that ye shal haue of our euerlasting sauiour.
23 With mourning and weeping dyd I let you go fro me: but with ioy and perpetuall gladnesse shall the Lorde bring you againe vnto me.
24 Like as the neyghbours of Sion saw your captiuitie from God: euen so shall they also see shortly your health in God, which shall come on you with great honour and euerlasting worship.
25 O my children, suffer patiently the wrath that shal come vpon you: for the enemie hath persecuted thee, but shortly thou shalt see his destruction, and shalt treade vpon his necke.
26 My dearlinges haue gone rough hard wayes, for they are led away as a flocke that is scattered abrode with the enemies.
27 But be of good comfort O my children, and crye vnto the Lorde: for he that led you away, hath you yet in remembraunce.
28 And like as ye haue ben mynded to swarue from your God: so shall ye now endeuour your selues ten times more to turne againe, and to seke him.
29 For he that hath brought these plagues vpon you, shall bring you euerlasting ioy againe with your health.
30 Take a good heart vnto thee O Hierusalem: for he whiche gaue thee that name, exhorteth thee so to do.
31 The wicked doers that now put thee to trouble, shall perishe: & such as haue reioyced at thy fall, shalbe punished.
32 The cities whom thy children serue, and that haue caryed away thy sonnes, shalbe corrected.
33 For like as they be nowe glad of thy decay, and reioyce at thy fal: so shal they mourne in their owne destruction.
34 The ioy of their multitude shalbe taken away, and their cheare shalbe turned to sorowe.
35 For a fire shall fall vpon them from the euerlasting God long to endure, & it shal be inhabited of deuyls for a great season.
36 O Hierusalem, loke about thee toward the east, and beholde the ioy that commeth vnto thee from God.
37 For lo, thy sonnes whom thou hast forsaken, and that were scattered abrode, come gathered together from the east and west, reioycing in the worde of the holy one, vnto the honour of God.
1 Put of thy mourning clothes O Hierusalem and thy sorow, & decke thee with the worship & honour that commeth vnto thee from God with euerlasting glorie.
2 God shal put the garment of righteousnesse vpon thee, & set a crowne of euerlasting worship vpon thyne head:
3 For vpon thee will God declare his brightnesse, that is vnder the heauen.
4 Yea an euerlasting name shall be geuen thee of God, with peace of righteousnesse, and the honour of gods feare.
5 Arise O Hierusalem, stande vp on hye, loke about thee towarde the east, and beholde thy children gathered from the east vnto the west, whiche reioyce in the holy worde, hauing God in remembraunce.
6 They departed from thee on foote, and were led away of their enemies: but now shall the Lorde bring them caryed with honour, as chyldren of the kingdome.
7 For God is purposed to bring downe al stout mountaynes, yea & all hie rockes, to fill the valleys, and so to make them euen with the ground, that Israel may be diligent to liue vnto the honour of God.
8 The woods & all pleasaunt trees, shall ouershadowe Israel at the commaundement of God.
9 For hyther shal God bring Israel with ioyfull mirth, and in the light of his maiestie, with the mercie and righteousnesse that commeth of him selfe.
1 Because of the sinnes that ye haue done against God, ye shalbe led away captiue vnto Babylon, euen of Nabuchodonozor the king of Babylon.
2 So when ye be come into Babylon, ye shall remayne there many yeres, and for a long season, [namely] seuen generations: and after that will I bring you away peaceably from thence.
3 Nowe shall ye see in Babylon gods of golde, of siluer, of wood, and of stone, borne vpon mens shoulders, to cast out a fearfulnesse before the heathen.
4 But loke that ye do not as the other: be not ye afraide, & let not the feare of them ouercome you.
5 Therfore when ye see the multitude of people worshipping them behynde and before, say ye in your heartes: O Lorde, it is thou that oughtest only to be worshipped.
6 Myne angell also shalbe with you, and I my selfe will care for your soules.
7 As for the timber of those gods, the carpenter hath pullished them: yea gilted be they and layed ouer with siluer, yet are they but vayne thinges, and can not speake.
8 Like as a wench that loueth paramours is trimly dect: euen so are these made and hanged with golde.
9 Crownes of golde veryly haue their gods vpon their heades: so the priestes them selues take golde and siluer from them, and put it to their owne vses:
10 Yea they geue of the same vnto harlottes, & trimme their whores withall: againe, they take it from the whores, and decke their gods therwith:
11 Yet can not these gods deliuer them selues from rust and mothes.
12 When they haue couered them with clothing of purple, they wype their faces for the dust of the temple, whereof there is much among them.
13 One hath a scepter in his hande as though he were iudge of the countrey, yet can he not slay such as offende hym.
14 An other hath a sworde or an axe in his hand: for al that, he is neither able to defende hym selfe from battayle, nor from murtherers.
15 By this ye may vnderstande, that they be no gods: therefore see that ye neither worship them, nor feare them.
16 For like as a vessell that a man vseth, is nothing worth when it is broken, euen so is it with their gods: When they be set vp in the temple, their eyes be ful of dust thorowe the feete of those that come in.
17 And like as the doores are shut in round about vpon hym that hath offended the king, or as it were a dead body kept beside the graue: Euen so, the priestes kepe the doores with barres & lockes, lest their gods be spoyled with robbers.
18 They set vp candels before them, yea veryly and that many, wherof they can not see one: but euen as blockes, so stande they in the temple.
19 It is sayd, that the serpentes & wormes whiche come of the earth gnawe out their hartes, eating them & their clothes also, and yet they feele it not.
20 Their faces are blacke, thorowe the smoke that is in the temple.
21 The owles, swalowes, and byrdes flee vpon them, yea and the cattes run ouer their heades.
22 By this ye may be sure that they are not gods, therfore feare them not.
23 The golde that they haue is to make them beautifull: for all that, except some body dight of their rust they wil geue no shine, and when they were cast into a fourme, they felt it not.
24 They are bought for money, and haue no breath of lyfe within them.
25 They must be borne vpon mens shoulders as those that haue no feete, wherby they declare vnto men that they be nothing worth: confounded be they then that worship them.
26 For if they fall to the ground, they can not rise vp againe of them selues: Yea though one helpe them vp and set them right, yet are they not able to stande alone, but must haue proppes set vnder them like dead men.
27 As for the thing that is offred vnto them, their priestes sell it, & abuse it, yea the priestes wyues take thereof: but vnto the sicke & poore they geue nothing of it.
28 The women with childe and the menstruous lay handes of their offringes: By this ye may be sure that they are no gods, therefore be not ye afrayde of them.
29 From whence commeth it then that they be called gods? the women sit before the gods of siluer, golde, and wood,
30 And the priestes sit in their temples, hauing open clothes, whose heades and beardes are shauen, and haue nothing vpon their heades,
31 Roaring and crying vpon their gods, as men do at the feast when one is dead.
32 The priestes also take away the garmentes of the images, and decke their wyues and children withall.
33 Whether it be good or euyll that any man do vnto them, they are not able to recompence it: they can neither set vp a king, nor put him downe.
34 In like maner, they may neither geue riches, nor rewarde euyll: though a man make a vow vnto them and kepe it not, they will not require it.
35 They can saue no man from death, neither deliuer the weake from the mightie.
36 They can not restore a blind man to his sight, nor helpe any man at his neede.
37 They can shewe no mercie to the widdowe, nor do good to the fatherlesse.
38 Their gods of wood, stone, golde, and siluer, are but euen as other stones that be hewen of the mountayne: they that worship them, shalbe confounded.
39 Howe shoulde they then be taken for gods? yea howe dare men call them gods?
40 And though the Chaldees worshipped them not, hearing that they were but dombe and coulde not speake:
41 Yet they them selues offer vnto Bel, and woulde fayne haue hym to speake: as who say they coulde feele, that may not moue.
42 But when these men come to vnderstanding, they shall forsake them, for their gods haue no feeling.
43 A great sort of women girde with coardes, sit in the streetes, & burne oliue beries: Now if one of them be conueyed away, and lye with such as come by, she casteth her neyghbours in the teeth, because she was not worthyly reputed, nor her coarde broken.
44 What so euer is done for them, it is but in vayne and lost: Howe may it then be thought or sayde, that they are gods?
45 Carpenters and goldesmithes make them: neither be they any other thing, but euen what the workemen wil make of them.
46 Yea the goldsmithes them selues that make them are of no long continuaunce: howe shoulde then the thinges that are made of them, be gods?
47 Uayne therfore are the thinges, yea very shame is it that they leaue behinde them for their posteritie.
48 For assoone as there commeth any warre or plague vpon them, then the priestes imagine where they may hyde them selues with them.
49 Howe can men thinke then that they be gods, whiche neither may defende them selues from warre, nor deliuer them from misfortune?
50 For seyng they be but of wood, of stone, of siluer, and of golde, all people and kinges shall knowe hereafter that they be but vayne thinges: yea it shalbe openly declared that they be no gods, but euen the very workes of mens handes, and that God hath nothing to do with them.
51 It is manifest then that they are no gods, but the workes of mens handes, and no worke of God in them.
52 They can set no king in the lande, nor geue rayne vnto men.
53 They can geue no sentence of a matter, neither defende the lande from wrong: for they are not able to do so much as a crowe that fleeth betwixt heauen and earth.
54 When there happeneth a fire into the house of those gods of wood, and siluer, and of golde, the priestes will escape and saue them selues, but the gods burne as the balkes therin.
55 They can not withstande any king or battell: howe may it then be thought or graunted that they be gods?
56 Moreouer, these gods of wood, of stone, of gold and siluer, may neither defend them selues from theeues nor robbers:
57 Yea the very wicked are stronger then they: these stryp them out of their apparell that they be clothed withall, these take their golde and siluer from them, & so get them away, yet can they not helpe them selues.
58 Therfore it is much better for a man to be a king, and so to shewe his power, or els a profitable vessell in a house, wherin he that oweth it might haue pleasure, yea or to be a doore in a house, to kepe such thinges safe as be therein: then to be such a vayne god.
59 The sunne, the moone, & al the starres, seing they geue their shine and light, are obedient, and do men good.
60 When the lightning glistreth, all is cleare.
61 The winde bloweth in euery countrey: & when God commaundeth the cloudes to go rounde about the whole worlde, they do as they are bidden.
62 When the fire is sent downe from aboue and commaunded, it burneth vp hilles & woodes: but as for those gods, they are not like one of these thinges, neither in beautie, neither in strength.
63 Wherfore, men shoulde not thinke nor say that they be gods, seing they can neither geue sentence in iudgement, nor do men good.
64 Forsomuch nowe as ye are sure that they be no gods, then feare them not:
65 For they can neither speake euyll nor good of kinges.
66 They can shew no tokens in heauens for the heathen, neither shyne as the sunne, nor geue light as the moone:
67 Yea the vnreasonable beastes are better then they: for they can get them vnder the roofe, and do them selues good.
68 So can ye be certified by no maner of meanes that they be gods, therefore feare them not.
69 For like as a scarcrowe in a garden of hearbes kepeth nothing: euen so are their gods of wood, of siluer, and golde.
70 And like as a white thorne in an orcharde that euery byrd sitteth vpon, yea lyke as a dead body that is cast in the darke: euen so is it with those gods of wood, siluer, and golde.
71 By the purple & scarlet which they haue vpon them and soone faydeth away, ye may vnderstande that they be no gods: yea they them selues shall be consumed at the last, whiche shalbe a great confusion of the lande.
72 Blessed is the godly man that hath no images and worshippeth none: for he shalbe farre from reproofe.