None that is gelded or hath his privy members cut off, shall come into

the congregation of the LORD. And he that is born of a common woman

shall not come in the congregation of the LORD, no in the tenth

generation he shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. The

Ammonites and the Moabites shall not come into the congregation of the

LORD, no not in the tenth generation, no they shall never come in to

the congregation of the LORD, because they met you not with bread and

water in the way when ye came out of Egypt, and because they hired

against thee Balaam the son of Beor the interpreter of Mesopotamia, to

curse thee. Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balam,

but turned the curse to a blessing unto thee, because the LORD thy God

loved thee. Thou shalt never therefore seek that which is prosperous or

good for them all thy days for ever. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite,

for he is thy brother: neither shalt thou abhor an Egyptian, because

thou wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of

them shall come into the congregation of the LORD in the third

generation. When thou goest out with the host against thine enemies,

keep thee from all wickedness for the LORD is among you. If there be

any man that is unclean by the reason of uncleanness that chanceth him

by night, let him go out of the host and not come in again until he

have washed himself with water before the evening: and then when the

son is down, let him come into the host again. Thou shalt have a place

without the host whither thou shalt resort to and thou shalt have a

sharp point at the end of thy weapon: and when thou wilt ease thyself,

dig therewith and turn and cover that which is departed from thee. For

the LORD thy God walketh in thine host, to rid thee and to set thine

enemies before thee. Let thine host be pure that he see no unclean

thing among you and turn from you. Thou shalt not deliver unto his

master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. Let him

dwell with thee, even among you in what place he himself liketh best,

in one of thy cities where it is good for him, and vex him not. There

shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor whorekeeper of the

sons of Israel. Thou shalt neither bring the hire of an whore nor the

price of a dog into the house of the LORD thy God, in no manner of vow:

for even both of them are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt

be no usurer unto thy brother, neither in money nor in food, nor in any

manner thing that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou mayst lend

upon usury, but not unto thy brother, that the LORD thy God may bless

thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou

goest to conquer it. When thou hast vowed a vow unto the LORD thy God,

see thou be not slack to pay it. For he will surely require it of thee,

and it shall be sin unto thee. If thou shalt leave vowing, it shall be

no sin unto thee: but that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou

must keep and do, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God a

freewill offering which thou hast spoken with thy mouth. When thou

comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, thou mayst eat grapes thy

bellyful at thine own pleasure: but thou shalt put none in thy bag.

When thou goest into thy neighbour's corn, thou mayst pluck the ears

with thine hand, but thou mayst not move a sicle unto thy neighbour's

corn.

Chapter .xxiiij.

When a man hath taken a wife and married her, if she find no favour in

his eyes, because he hath spied some uncleanness in her: Then let him

write her a bill of divorcement and put it in her hand and send her out

of his house. If when she is departed out of his house, she go and be

another man's wife and the second husband hate her and write her a

letter of divorcement and put it in her hand and send her out of his

house, or if the second man die which took her to wife; Her first man

which sent her away may not take her again to be his wife, inasmuch as

she is defiled. For that is abomination in the sight of the LORD: that

thou defile not the land with sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee

to inherit. When a man taketh a new wife, he shall not go a warfare

neither shall be charged with any business: but shall be free at home

one year and rejoice with his wife which he hath taken. No man shall

take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge, for then he taketh a

man's life to pledge. If any man be found stealing any of his brethren

the children of Israel, and maketh chevisance of him or selleth him,

the thief shall die. And thou shalt put evil away from thee. Take heed

to thyself as concerning the plague of leprosy, that thou observe

diligently to do according to all that the priests the Levites shall

teach thee, as I commanded them so ye shall observe to do. Remember

what the LORD thy God did unto Miriam by the way, after that ye were

come out of Egypt. If thou lend thy brother any manner succour, thou

shalt not go into his house to fetch a pledge: but shalt stond without

and the man to whom thou lendest, shall bring thee the pledge out at

the door. Furthermore if it be a poor body, go not to sleep with his

pledge: but deliver him the pledge again by that the son go down, and

let him sleep in his own raiment and bless thee. And it shall be

righteousness unto thee, before the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not

defraud an hired servant that is needy and poor, whether he be of thy

brethren or a stranger that is in thy land within thy cities. Give him

his hire the same day, and let not the son go down thereon. For he is

needy and therewith sustaineth his life, lest he cry against thee unto

the LORD and it be sin unto thee. The fathers shall not die for the

children nor the children for the fathers: but every man shall die for

his own sin. Hinder not the right of the stranger nor of the

fatherless, nor take widow's raiment to pledge. But remember that thou

wast a servant in Egypt, and how the LORD thy God delivered thee

thence. Wherefore I command thee to do this thing. When thou cuttest

down thine harvest in the field and hast forgotten a sheaf in the

field, thou shalt not go again and fetch it: But it shall be for the

stranger, the fatherless and the widow, that the LORD thy God may bless

thee in all the work of thine hand. When thou beatest down thine olive

trees thou shalt not make clean riddance after thee: but it shall be

for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And when thou gatherest

thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather clean after thee: but it shall be

for the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. And remember that thou

wast a servant in the land of Egypt: wherefore I command thee to do

this thing.

Chapter .xxv.

When {If} there is strife between men, let them come unto the law, and

let the judges justify the righteous and condemn the trespasser. And if

the trespasser be worthy of stripes, then let the judge cause to take

him down and to beat him before his face according to his trespass,

unto a certain number. Forty stripes he shall give him and not pass:

lest if he should exceed and beat him above that with many stripes, thy

brother should appear ungodly before thine eyes. Thou shalt not muzzle

{mosell} the ox that treadeth out the corn. When brethren dwell

together and one of them die and have no child, the wife of the dead

shall not be given out unto a stranger: but her brotherinlaw shall go

in unto her and take her to wife and marry her. And the eldest son

which she beareth, shall stond up in the name of his brother which is

dead, that his name be not put out in Israel. But and if the man will

not take his sisterinlaw, then let her go to the gate unto the elders

and say: My brotherinlaw refuseth to stir up unto his brother a name in

Israel, he will not marry me. Then let the elders of his city call unto

him and commune with him. If he stond and say: I will not take her,

then let his sister-in-law go unto him in the presence of the elders

and loose his shoe off his foot and spit in his face and answer and

say: So shall it be done unto that man that will not build his

brother's house. And his name shall be called in Israel, the unshoed

house. If when men strive together, one with another, the wife of the

one run to, for to rid her husband out of the hands of him that smiteth

him and put forth her hand and take him by the secrets: cut off her

hand, and let not thine eye pity her. Thou shalt not have in thy bag

two manner weights, a great and a small: neither shalt thou have in

thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a

perfect and a just measure: that thy days may be lengthened in the land

which the LORD thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things and all

that do unright, are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Remember what

Amalech did unto thee by the way after thou camest out of Egypt, he met

thee by the way and smote the hindmost of you, all that were over

laboured and dragged behind, when thou wast fainted and weary, and he

feared not God. Therefore when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest

from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God

giveth thee to inherit and possess: see that thou put out the name of

Amalech from under heaven, and forget not.

Chapter .xxvi.

When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to

inherit and hast enjoyed it and dwellest therein: take of the first of

all the fruit of the earth, which thou hast brought in out of the land

that the LORD thy God giveth thee and put it in a maund and go unto the

place which the LORD thy God shall choose to make his name dwell there.

And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days and say

unto him: I knowledge this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come

unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us.

And the priest shall take the maund out of thine hand, and set it down

before the altar of the LORD thy God. And thou shalt answer and say

before the LORD thy God: The Sirians would have destroyed my father,

and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few folk and

grew there unto a nation great, mighty and full of people. And the

Egyptians vexed us and troubled us, and laded us with cruel bondage.

And we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our

voice and looked on our adversity, labour and oppression. And the LORD

brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and a stretched out arm and

with great terribleness and with signs and wonders. And he hath brought

us into this place and hath given us this land that floweth with milk

and honey. And now lo, I have brought the first fruits of the land

which the LORD hath given me. And set it before the LORD thy God and

worship before the LORD thy God and rejoice over all the good thing

which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee and unto thine house, both

thou the Levite and the stranger that is among you. When thou hast made

an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, the

year of tithing: and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the

fatherless and the widow, and they have eaten in thy gates and filled

them selves. Then say before the LORD thy God: I have brought thee

hallowed things out of mine house: and have given them unto the Levite,

the stranger, the fatherless and the widow according to all the

commandments which thou commandest me: I have not overskipped thy

commandments, nor forgotten them. I have not eaten thereof in my

mourning nor taken away thereof unto any uncleanness, nor spent thereof

about any dead corpse: but have hearkened unto the voice of the LORD my

God, and have done after all that he commanded me, look down from thy

holy habitation heaven and bless thy people Israel and the land which

thou hast given us (as thou swearest unto our fathers) a land that

floweth with milk and honey. This day the LORD thy God hath commanded

thee to do these ordinances and laws. Keep them therefore and do them

with all thine heart and all thy soul. Thou hast set up the LORD this

day to be thy God and to walk in his ways and to keep his ordinances,

his commandments and his laws, and to hearken unto his voice. And the

LORD hath set thee up this day, to be a several people unto him (as he

hath promised thee) and that thou keep his commandments, and to make

thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, in name and

honour: that thou mayst be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he

hath said.

Chapter .xxvij.

And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people saying: keep

all the commandments which I command you this day. And when ye be come

over Iordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, set up

great stones and plaster them with plaster, and write upon them all the

words of this law, when thou art come over: that thou mayst come into

the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee: a land that floweth with

milk and honey, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. When

ye be come over Iordan, see that ye set up these stones which I command

you this day in mount Ebal, and plaster them with plaster. And there

build unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones and see thou lift up no

iron upon them: But thou shalt make the altar of the LORD thy God of

rough stones and offer burntofferings thereon unto the LORD thy God.

And thou shalt offer peaceofferings and shalt eat there and rejoice

before the LORD thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the

words of this law, manifestly and well. And Moses with the priests the

Levites spake unto all Israel saying: take heed and hear Israel, this

day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. Hearken therefore

unto the voice of the LORD thy God and do his commandments and his

ordinances which I command you this day. And Moses charged the people

the same day saying: These shall stond upon mount Grisim to bless the

people, when ye are come over Iordan: Simeon, Levi, Iuda, Isachar,

Ioseph and BenIamin. And these shall stond upon mount Ebal to curse:

Ruben, Gad, Asser, Zabulon, Dan and Nephthali. And the Levites shall

begin and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice: Cursed be

he that maketh any carved image or image of metal (an abomination unto

the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman) and putteth it in a

secret place: And all the people shall answer and say Amen. Cursed be

he that curseth his father or his mother, and all the people shall say

Amen. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's mark, and all the

people shall say Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind go out of his

way, and all the people shall say Amen. Cursed be he that hindreth the

right of the stranger, fatherless and widow, and all the people shall

say Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife because he

hath opened his father's covering, and all the people shall say Amen.

Cursed be he that lieth with any manner beast, and all the people shall

say Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister whether she be the

daughter of his father or of his mother, and all the people shall say

Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law, and all the

people shall say Amen. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour

secretly, and all the people shall say Amen. Cursed be he that taketh a

reward to slay innocent blood, and all the people shall say Amen.

Cursed be he that maintaineth not all the words of this law to do them,

and all the people shall say Amen.

Chapter .xxviij.

If thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to

observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day.

The LORD will set thee on high {an hye} above all nations of the earth.

And all these blessings shall come on thee and over take thee, if thou

shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be

in the town and blessed in the fields, blessed shall be the fruit of

thy body, the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattle, the

fruit of thine oxen, and thy flocks of sheep, blessed shall thine

almery be and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be, both when thou goest

out, and blessed when thou comest in. The LORD shall smite thine

enemies that rise against thee before thy face. They shall come out

against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The LORD shall

command the blessing to be with thee in thy store houses and in all

that thou settest thine hand to, and will bless the in the land which

the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall make thee an holy people

unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee: if thou shalt keep the

commandments of the LORD thy God and walk in his ways. And all nations

of the earth shall see that thou art called after the name of the LORD,

and they shall be afeared of thee. And the LORD shall make thee

plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, in the fruit of thy

cattle and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware

unto thy fathers to give thee. The LORD shall open unto thee his good

treasure, even the heaven, to give rain unto thy land in due season and

to bless all the labours of thine hand. And thou shalt lend unto many

nations, but shalt not need to borrow thyself. And the LORD shall set

thee before and not behind, and thou shalt be above only and not

beneath: if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God

which I command thee this day to keep and to do them. And see that thou

bow not from any of these words which I command thee this day either to

the right hand or to the left, that thou wouldest go after strange gods

to serve them. But and if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the

LORD thy God to keep and to do all his commandments and ordinances

which I command thee this day: then all these curses shall come upon

thee and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the town, and cursed in

the field, cursed shall thine almery be and thy store. Cursed shall be

the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy land be and the fruit of

thine oxen and the flocks of thy sheep. And cursed shalt thou be when

thou goest in, and when thou goest out. And the LORD shall send upon

thee cursing, going to nought and complaining in all that thou settest

thine hand to, whatsoever thou doest: until thou be destroyed and

brought to nought quickly, because of the wickedness of thine

inventions in that thou hast forsaken the LORD. And the LORD shall make

the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from the

land whither thou goest to enjoy it. And the LORD shall smite thee with

swelling, with fevers, heat, burning, weathering, with smiting and

blasting. And they shall follow thee, until thou perish. And the heaven

that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee,

iron. And the LORD shall turn the rain of the land unto powder and

dust: even from heaven they shall come down upon thee, until thou be

brought to nought. And the LORD shall plague thee before thine enemies:

Thou shalt come out one way against them, and flee seven ways before

them, and shalt be scattered among all the kingdoms of the earth. And

thy carcass shall be meat unto all manner fowls of the air and unto the

beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. And the LORD will

smite thee with the botches of Egypt and the emerods, scall and

manginess, that thou shalt not be healed thereof. And the LORD shall

smite thee with madness, blindness and dazing of heart. And thou shalt

grope at noonday as the blind gropeth in darkness, and shalt not come

to the right way. And thou shalt suffer wrong only and be polled

evermore, and no man shall succour thee: thou shalt be betrothed unto a

wife, and another shall lie with her. Thou shalt build an house and

another shall dwell therein. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not

make it common. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou

shalt not eat thereof. Thine ass shall be violently taken away even

before thy face, and shall not be restored thee again. Thy sheep shall

be given unto thine enemies, and no man shall help thee. Thy sons and

thy daughters shall be given unto another nation, and thine eyes shall

see and daze upon them all day long, but shalt have no might in thine

hand. The fruit of thy land and all thy labours shall a nation which

thou knowest not, eat, and thou shalt but suffer violence only and be

oppressed alway: that thou shalt be clean beside thyself for the sight

of thine eyes which thou shalt see. The LORD shall smite thee with a

mischievous botch in the knees and legs, so that thou canst not be

healed: even from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head. The

LORD shall bring both thee and thy king which thou hast set over thee,

unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, and there

thou shalt serve strange gods: even wood and stone. And thou shalt go

to waste and be made an example and a jesting stock unto all nations

whither the LORD shall carry thee. Thou shalt carry much seed out into

the field, and shalt gather but little in: for the locusts

{grasshoppers} shall destroy it. Thou shalt plant a vineyard and dress

it, but shalt neither drink of the wine neither gather of the grapes,

for the worms shall eat it. Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy

coasts, but shalt not be anointed with the oil, for thine olive trees

shall be rooted out. Thou shalt get sons and daughters, but shalt not

have them: for they shall be carried away captive. All thy trees and

fruit of thy land shall be marred with blasting. The strangers that are

among you shall climb above thee up on high, {an hye} and thou shalt

come down beneath alow. He shall lend thee and thou shalt not lend him,

he shall be before and thou behind. Moreover all these curses shall

come upon thee and shall follow thee and overtake thee, till thou be

destroyed: because thou hearkenedest not unto the voice of the LORD thy

God, to keep his commandments and ordinances which he commanded thee,

and they shall be upon thee as miracles and wonders and upon thy seed

for ever. And because thou servedest not the LORD thy God with

joyfulness and with a good heart for the abundance of all things,

therefore thou shalt serve thine enemy which the LORD shall send upon

thee: in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and in need of all things: and

he shall put a yoke of iron upon thine neck, until he have brought thee

to nought. And the LORD shall bring a nation upon thee from afar, even

from the end of the world, as swift as an eagle fleeth: {flyeth} a

nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand: a hard favoured nation

which shall not regard the person of the old nor have compassion on the

young. And he shall eat the fruit of thy land and the fruit of thy

cattle until he have destroyed thee: so that he shall leave thee

neither corn, wine, nor oil, neither the increase of thine oxen nor the

flocks of thy sheep: until he have brought thee to nought. And he shall

keep thee in all thy cities, until thy high and strong walls be come

down wherein thou trustedest, thorow all thy land. And he shall besiege

thee in all thy cities thorowout all thy land which the LORD thy God

hath given thee. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body: the

flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath

given thee, in that straitness and siege wherewith thine enemy shall

besiege thee: so that it shall grieve the man that is tender and

exceeding delicate among you, to look on his brother and upon his wife

that lieth in his bosom and on the remnant of his children, which he

hath yet left, for fear of giving unto any of them of the flesh of his

children, which he eateth, because he hath nought left him in that

straitness and siege wherewith thine enemy shall besiege thee in all

thy cities. Yea and the woman that is so tender and delicate among you

that she dare not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground

for softness and tenderness, shall be grieved to look on the husband

that lieth in her bosom and on her son and on her daughter: even

because of the afterbirth, that is come out from between her legs, and

because of her children which she hath borne, because she would eat

them for need of all things secretly, in the straitness and siege

wherewith thine enemy shall besiege thee in thy cities. If thou wilt

not be diligent to do all the words of this law that are written in

this book, for to fear this glorious and fearful name of the LORD thy

God: the LORD will smite both thee and thy seed with wonderful plagues

and with great plagues and of long continuance, and with evil

sicknesses and of long durance. Moreover he will bring upon thee all

the diseases of Egypt which thou wast afraid of, and they shall cleave

unto thee. Thereto all manner sicknesses and all manner plagues which

are not written in the book of this law, will the LORD bring upon thee

until thou be come to nought. And ye shall be left few in number,

wheretofore ye were as the stars of heaven in multitude: because thou

wouldest not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. And as the

LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you: even so he

will rejoice over you, to destroy you and to bring you to nought. And

ye shall be wasted from off the land whither thou goest to enjoy it.

And the LORD shall scatter thee among all nations from the one end of

the world unto the other, and there thou shalt serve strange gods,

which neither thou nor thy fathers have known: even wood and stone. And

among these nations thou shalt be no small season, and yet shalt have

no rest for the sole of thy foot. For the LORD shall give thee there a

trembling heart and dazing eyes and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall

hang before thee, and thou shalt fear both day and night and shalt have

no trust in thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, would God it were

night. And at night thou shalt say, would God it were morning. For fear

of thine heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes

which thou shalt see. And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again

with ships, by the way which I bade thee that thou shouldst see it no

more. And there ye shall be sold unto your enemies, for bondmen and

bondwomen: and yet no man shall buy you.

Chapter .xxix.

These are the words of the appointment which the LORD commanded Moses

to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the

appointment which he made with them in Horeb. And Moses called unto all

Israel and said unto them: Ye have seen all, that the LORD did before

your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharao and unto all his servants,

and unto all his land, and the great temptations which thine eyes have

seen and those great miracles and wonders: And yet the LORD hath not

given you an heart to perceive, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear unto

this day. And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: and your

clothes are not waxed old upon you, nor are thy shoes waxed old upon

thy feet. Ye have eaten no bread nor drunk wine or strong drink: that

ye might know, how that he is the LORD your God. And at the last ye

came unto this place, and Sihon the king of Hesbon and Og king of Basan

came out against you unto battle, and we smote them and took their land

and gave it an heritance unto the Rubenites and Gadites and to the half

tribe of Manasse. Keep therefore the word of this appointment and do

them, that ye may understand all that ye ought to do. Ye stond here

this day every one of you before the LORD your God: both the heads of

your tribes, your elders, your officers and all the men of Israel: your

children, your wives and the strangers that are in thine host, from the

hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: that thou shouldst come

under the appointment of the LORD thy God, and under his oath which the

LORD thy God maketh with thee this day. For to make thee a people unto

himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee

and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers Abraham, Isaac and Iacob. Also I

make not this bond and this oath with you only: but both with him that

stoodeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with

him that is not here with us this day. For ye know how we have dwelt in

the land of Egypt, and how we came thorow the midst of the nations

which we passed by. And ye have seen their abominations and their

idols: wood, stone, silver, gold, which they had. Lest there be among

you man or woman kindred or tribe that turneth away in his heart this

day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations:

and lest there be among you some root {|rote|} that beareth gall and

wormwood, so that when he heareth the words of this curse, he bless

himself in his heart saying: I fear it not, {shall have peace} I will

therefore walk {work} after the lust of mine own heart, that the

drunken destroy {may perish with} the thirsty. And so the LORD will not

be merciful unto him, but then the wrath of the LORD and his jealousy,

smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this

book light upon him, and the LORD do out his name from under heaven,

and separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel according

unto all the curses of the appointment that is written in the book of

this law. So that the generation to come of your children that shall

rise up after you and the stranger that shall come from a far land, say

when they see the plagues of that land, and the diseases wherewith the

LORD hath smitten it, how all the land is burnt up with brimstone and

salt, that it is neither sown nor beareth, nor any grass groweth

therein, after the overthrowing of Sodom, Gomor, Adama and Zeboim:

which the LORD overthrew in his wrath and anger. And then all nations

also say: wherefore hath the LORD done of this fashion unto this land?

O how fierce is this great wrath? And men shall say: because they left

the testament of the LORD God of their fathers which he made with them,

when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they went and served

strange gods and worshipped them: gods which they knew not and which

had given them nought. And therefore the wrath of the LORD waxed hot

upon that land to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this

book. And the LORD cast them out of their land in anger, wrath and

great furiousness, and cast them into a strange land, as it is come to

pass this day. The secrets pertain unto the LORD our God and the things

that are opened pertain unto us and our children for ever, that we do

all the words of this law.

Chapter .xxx.

When all these words are come upon thee, whether it be the blessing or

the curse which I have set before thee, yet if thou turn unto thine

heart among all the nations whither the LORD thy God hath thrust thee,

and come again unto the LORD thy God and hearken unto his voice

according to all that I command thee this day: both thou and thy

children with all thine heart and all thy soul: Then the LORD thy God

will turn thy captivity and have compassion upon thee and go and fetch

thee again from all the nations, among which the LORD thy God shall

have scattered thee. Though thou wast cast unto the extreme parts of

heaven: even from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee and from

thence fetch thee and bring thee into the land which thy fathers

possessed, and thou shalt enjoy it. And he will shew thee kindness and

multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise

thine heart and the heart of thy seed for to love the LORD thy God with

all thine heart and all thy soul, that thou mayst live. And the LORD

thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies and on them that

hate thee and persecute thee. But thou shalt turn and hearken unto the

voice of the LORD and do all his commandments which I command thee this

day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in all the works of

thine hand and in the fruit of thy body, in the fruit of thy cattle and

fruit of thy land and in riches. For the LORD will turn again and

rejoice over thee to do thee good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If

thou hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his

commandments and ordinances which are written in the book of this law,

if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart and all thy

soul. For the commandment which I command thee this day, is not

separated from thee neither far off. It is not in heaven, that thou

needest to say: who shall go up for us into heaven, and fetch it us,

that we may hear it and do it: Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou

shouldest say: who shall go over sea for us and fetch it us that we may

hear it and do it. But the word is very nye unto thee: even in thy

mouth and in thine heart, that thou do it. Behold I have set before you

this day life and good, death and evil: in that I command thee this day

to love the LORD thy God and to walk in his ways and to keep his

commandments, his ordinances and his laws: that thou mayst live and

multiply, and that the LORD thy God may bless thee in the land whither

thou goest to possess it. But and if thine heart turn away, so that

thou wilt not hear: but shalt go astray and worship strange gods and

serve them, I pronounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish

and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land whither thou

passest over Iordan to go and possess it. I call to record this day

unto you, heaven and earth, that I have set before you life and death,

blessing and cursing: but choose life, that thou and thy seed may live,

in that thou lovest the LORD thy God, hearkenest unto his voice and

cleavest unto him. For he is thy life and the length of thy days, that

thou mayst dwell upon the earth which the LORD sware unto thy fathers:

Abraham, Isaac and Iacob to give them.

Chapter .xxxj.

And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel and said unto

them: I am an hundred and twenty years old this day, and can no more go

out and in. Also the LORD hath said unto me, thou shalt not go over

this Iordan. The LORD your God he will go over before thee and he will

destroy these nations before thee, and thou shalt conquer them. And

Iosua he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said. And the LORD

shall do {go} unto them, as he did to Sehon and Og kings of the

Amorites and unto their lands which kings he destroyed. And when the

LORD hath delivered them to thee, see that ye do unto them according

unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. Pluck up your

hearts and be strong, dread not nor be afeared of them: for the LORD

thy God himself will go with thee, and will neither let thee go nor

forsake thee. And Moses called unto Iosua and said unto him in the

sight of all Israel. Be strong and bold, for thou must go with this

people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to

give them, and thou shalt give it them to inherit. And the LORD he

shall go before thee and he shall be with thee, and will not let thee

go nor forsake thee, fear not therefore nor be discomforted. And Moses

wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi which

bare the ark of the testament of the LORD, and unto all the elders of

Israel, and commanded them saying: At the end of seven years, in the

time of the free year, in the feast of the tabernacles, when all Israel

is come to appear before the LORD thy God, in the place which he hath

chosen: see that thou read this law before all Israel in their ears.

Gather the people together: both men, women and children and the

strangers that are in thy cities, that they may hear, learn and fear

the LORD your God, and be diligent to keep all the words of this law,

and that their children which know nothing may hear and learn to fear

the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over

Iordan to possess it. And the LORD said unto Moses: Behold thy days are

come, that thou must die. Call Iosua and come and stond in the

tabernacle of witness, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and

Iosua went and stood in the tabernacle of witness. And the LORD

appeared in the tabernacle: even in the pillar of the cloud. And the

pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And the LORD

said unto Moses: behold, thou must sleep with thy fathers, and this

people will go a whoring after strange gods of the land whither they go

and will forsake me and break the appointment which I have made with

them. And then my wrath will wax hot against them, and I will forsake

them and will hide my face from them, and they shall be consumed. And

when much adversity and tribulation is come upon them, then they will

say: because our God is not among us, these tribulations are come upon

us. But I will hide my face that same time for all the evil's sake

which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto strange

gods. Now therefore write ye this song, and teach it the children of

Israel and put it in their mouths that this song may be my witness unto

the children of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land

which I sware unto their fathers that runneth with milk and honey, then

they will eat and fill them selves and wax fat and turn unto strange

gods and serve them and rail on me and break my testament. And then

when much mischief and tribulation is come upon them, this song shall

answer before them, and be a witness. It shall not be forgotten out of

the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go

about even now before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

And Moses wrote this song the same season, and taught it the children

of Israel. And the Lord {|LORDE|} gave Iosua the son of Nun a charge

and said: be bold and strong for thou shalt bring the children of

Israel into the land which I sware unto them, and I will be with thee.

When Moses had made an end of writing out the words of this law in a

book unto the end of them he commanded the Levites which bare the ark

of the testament of the LORD saying: take the book of this law and put

it by the side of the ark of the testament of the LORD your God, and

let it be there for a witness unto thee. For I know thy stubbornness

and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye

have been disobedient unto the LORD: and how much more after my death.

Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I

may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to record

against them. For I am sure that after my death, they will utterly mar

them selves and turn from the way which I commanded you, and

tribulation will come upon you in the latter days, when ye have wrought

wickedness in the sight of the LORD to provoke him with the works of

your hands. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of

Israel the words of this song, unto the end of them.

Chapter .xxxij.

Hear o heaven, what I shall speak and hear o earth the words of my

mouth. My doctrine drop as doeth the rain, and my speech flow as doeth

the dew, as the mizzling upon the herbs, and as the drops upon the

grass. For I will call on the name of the LORD: Magnify the might of

our God. He is a Rocke and perfect are his deeds, for all his ways are

with discretion. God is faithful and without wickedness, both righteous

and just is he. The froward and overthwart generation hath marred them

selves to himward, and are not his sons for their deformities' sake.

Dost thou so reward the LORD? O foolish nation and unwise. Is not he

thy father and thine owner? hath he not made thee and ordained thee?

Remember the days that are past: consider the years from time to time.

Ask thy father and he will shew thee, thine elders and they will tell

thee. When the most highest gave the nations an inheritance, and

divided the sons of Adam, he put the borders of the nations, fast by

the multitude of the children of Israel. For the LORD's part is his

folk, and Israel is the portion of his inheritance. He found him in a

desert land, in a void ground and a roaring wilderness. He led him

about and gave him understanding, and kept him as the apple of his eye.

As an eagle that stirreth up her nest and fluttereth over her young, he

stretched out his wings and took him up and bare him on his shoulders.

The LORD alone was his guide, and there was no strange god with him. He

set him up upon an high land, and he ate the increase of the fields.

And he gave him honey to suck out of the rock, and oil out of the hard

stone. With butter of the kine and milk of the sheep, with fat of the

lambs and fat rams and he goats with fat kidneys and with wheat. And of

the blood of grapes thou drunkest wine. And Israel waxed fat and

kicked. Thou wast fat, thick and smooth. And he let God go that made

him and despised the rock that saved him. They angered him with strange

gods and with abominations provoked him. They offered unto field devils

and not to God, and to gods which they knew not and to new gods that

came newly up which their fathers feared not. Of the rock that begat

thee thou art unmindful and hast forgot God that made thee. And when

the LORD saw it, he was angry because of the provoking of his sons and

daughters. And he said: I will hide my face from them and will see what

their end shall be. For they are a froward generation and children in

whom is no faith. They have angered me with that which is no god, and

provoked me with their vanities; And I again will anger them with them

which are no people, and will provoke them with a foolish nation. For

fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn unto the bottom of hell.

And shall consume the earth with her increase, and set afire the

bottoms of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon thee and will

spend all mine arrows at them. Burnt with hunger and consumed with heat

and with bitter pestilence. I will also send the teeth of beasts upon

them and poison serpents. Without forth, the sword shall rob them of

their children: and within in the chamber, fear: both young men and

young women and the sucklings with the men of gray heads. I have

determined to scatter them thorowout the world, and to make away the

remembrance of them from among men. Were it not that I feared the

railing of their enemies, lest their adversaries would be proud and

say: our high hand hath done all these works and not the LORD. For it

is a nation that hath an unhappy forecast, and hath no understanding in

them: I would they were wise and understood this and would consider

their latter end. How it cometh that one shall chase a thousand, and

two put ten thousand of them to flight?: except their rock had sold

them, and because the LORD had delivered them. For our rock is not as

their rock, no though our enemies be judge. But their vines are of the

vines of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorra. Their grapes are grapes

of gall, and their clusters be bitter. Their wine is the poison of

dragons, and the cruel gall of asps. Are not such things laid in store

with me, and sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance is mine and I will

reward: their feet shall slide, when the time cometh. For the time of

their destruction is at hand, and the time that shall come upon them

maketh haste. For the LORD will do justice unto his people, and have

compassion on his servants. For it shall be seen that their power shall

fail, and at the last they shall be prisoned and forsaken. And it shall

be said: where are their gods and their rock wherein they trusted? The

fat of whose sacrifices they ate, and drank the wine of their

drinkofferings, let them rise up and help you and be your protection.

See now how that I, I am he, and that there is no God but I. I can kill

and make alive, and what I have smitten that I can heal: neither is

there that can deliver any man out of my hand. For I will lift up my

hand to heaven, and will say: I live ever. If I whet the lightning of

my sword, and mine hand take in hand to do justice, I will shew

vengeance on mine enemies and will reward them that hate me. I will

make mine arrows drunken with blood, and my sword shall eat flesh of

the blood of the slain and of the captive and of the bare head of the

enemy. Rejoice {Praise ye} heathen with his people, for he will avenge

the blood of his servants, and will avenge him of his adversaries, and

will be merciful unto the land of his people. And Moses went and spake

all the words of this song in the ears of the people, both he and Iosua

the son of Nun. And when Moses had spoken all these words unto the end

to all Israel, then he said unto them. Set your hearts unto all the

words which I testify unto you this day: that ye command them unto your

children, to observe and do all the words of this law. For it is not a

vain word unto you: but it is your life, and thorow this word ye shall

prolong your days in the land whither ye go over Iordan to conquer it.

And the LORD spake unto Moses the self same day saying: get thee up

into this mountain Abarim unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab

over against Iericho. And behold the land of Canaan which I give unto

the children of Israel to possess. And die in the mount which thou

goest upon, and be gathered unto thy people: As Aaron thy brother died

in mount Hor and was gathered unto his people. For ye trespassed

against me among the children of Israel at the waters of strife, at

Cades in the wilderness of Zin: because ye sanctified me not among the

children of Israel. Thou shalt see the land before thee, but shall not

go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

Chapter .xxxiij.

This is the blessing wherewith Moses God's {gods} man blessed the

children of Israel before his death saying: The LORD came from Sinai

and shewed his beams from Seir unto them, and appeared gloriously from

mount Pharan, and he came with thousands of saints, and in his right

hand a law of fire for them. How loved he the people? All his saints

are in his hand. They joined them selves unto thy foot and received thy

words. Moses gave us a law which is the inheritance of the congregation

of Iacob. And he was in Israel king when he gathered the heads of the

people and the tribes of Israel together. Ruben shall live and shall

not die: but his people shall be few in number. This is the blessing of

Iuda. And he said: hear LORD the voice of Iuda and bring him unto his

people: let his hands fight for him: but be thou his help against his

enemies. And unto Levi he said: thy perfectness and thy light be after

thy merciful man whom thou temptest at Masa and with whom thou

strivedest at the waters of strife. He that sayeth unto his father and

mother: I saw him not, and unto his brethren I knew not, and to his son

I wot not: for they have observed thy words and kept thy testament.

They shall teach Iacob thy judgements and Israel thy laws. They shall

put cense before thy nose and whole sacrifices upon thine altar. Bless

LORD their power and accept the works of their hands: smite the backs

of them that rise against them and of them that hate them: that they

rise not again. Unto Ben Iamin he said: The LORD's darling shall dwell

in safety by him and keep himself in the haven by him continually, and

shall dwell between his shoulders. And unto Ioseph he said: blessed of

the LORD is his land with the goodly fruits of heaven, with dew and

with springs that lie beneath: and with fruits of the increase of the

son and with ripe fruit of the months, and with the tops of mountains

that were from the beginning and with the dainties of hills that last

ever, and with goodly fruit of the earth and of the fulness thereof.

And the goodwill of him that dwelleth in the bush shall come upon the

head of Ioseph and upon the top of the head of him that was separated

from among his brethren, his beauty is as a firstborn ox and his horns

as the horns of an unicorn. And with them he shall push the nations

together, even unto the ends of the world. These are the many thousands

of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasse. And unto Zabulon he said:

Rejoice Zabulon in thy going out, and thou Isachar in thy tents. They

shall call the people unto the hill, and there they shall offer

offerings of righteousness. For they shall suck of the abundance of the

sea and of treasure hid in the sand. And unto Gad he said: blessed is

the rowmmaker Gad. He dwelleth as a lion and caught the arm and also

the top of the head. He saw his beginning, that a part of the teachers

were {teacher was} hid there and come with the heads of the people, and

executed the righteousness of the LORD and his judgements with Israel.

And unto Dan he said: Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow from Basan.

And unto Nephthali, he said: Nephthali he shall have abundance of

pleasure and shall be filled with the blessing of the LORD and shall

have his possessions in the southwest. And of Asser he said: Asser

shall be blessed with children: he shall be acceptable unto his

brethren and shall dip his foot in oil: Iron and brass shall hang on

thy shoes and thine age shall be as thy youth. There is none like unto

the God of thee of Israel: he that sitteth upon heaven shall be thine

help, whose glory is in the clouds, that is the dwelling place of God

from the beginning and from under the arms of the world: he hath cast

out thine enemies before thee and said: destroy. And Israel shall dwell

in safety alone. And the eyes of Iacob shall look upon a land of corn

and wine, moreover his heaven shall drop with dew. Happy art thou

Israel, who is like unto thee? A people that art saved by the LORD thy

shield and helper and sword of thy glory. And thine enemies shall hide

them selves from thee, and thou shalt walk upon their high hills.

Chapter .xxxiiij.

And Moses went from the fields of Moab up into mount Nebo which is the

top of Pisga, that is over against Iericho. And the LORD shewed him all

the land of Gilead even unto Dan, and all Naphthali and the land of

Ephraim and Manasse, and all the land of Iuda: even unto the utmost

sea, and the south and the region of the plain of Iericho the city of

datetrees {palm trees} even unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him. This

is the land which I sware unto Abraham, Isaac and Iacob saying: I will

give it unto thy seed. I have shewed it thee before thine eyes: but

thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the LORD died

there in the land of Moab at the commandment of the LORD. And he buried

him in a valley in the land of Moab beside Beth Peor: but no man wist

of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty

years old when he died, and yet his eyes were not dim nor his cheeks

abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the fields of Moab

thirty days. And the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

And Iosua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom: for Moses

had put his hand upon him. And all the children of Israel hearkened

unto him and did as the LORD commanded Moses. But there arose not a

prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to

face, in all the miracles and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in

the land of Egypt, unto Pharao and all his servants and unto all his

land: and in all the mighty deeds and great terrible things which Moses

did in the sight of all Israel.

The end of the fifth book of Moses.

The New Testament first translated into English from the original

tongue

by William Tyndale: printed partially in 1525, and completly in 1526.

The text of Matthew is from the Cologne quarto (1525) fragment; til

Chapter 22:

"The king came in, to visit the guests, and spied there a man which had

not on a wedding garment, and said unto him: friend, how camest thou in

hither, and"

The rest of the New Testament is from the Worms octavo edition of 1526;

Also with some few variants [in] {brackets} from W.T. 1534 edition.

{Editor's notes at bottom.}

(Proloque from the Cologne quarto 1525.)

The Prologue.

I have here translated (brethren and sisters most dear and tenderly

beloved in Christ) the new Testament for your spiritual edifying,

consolation and solace: Exhorting instantly and beseeching those that

are better seen in the tongues than I, and that have higher gifts of

grace to interpret the sense of the Scripture, and meaning of the

Spirit, than I, to consider and ponder my labor, and that with the

spirit of meekness. And if they perceive in any places that I have not

attained the very sense of the tongue, or meaning of the Scripture, or

have not given the right English word, that they put to their hands to

amend it, remembering that so is their duty to do. For we have not

received the gifts of God for ourselves only, or for to hide them; but

for to bestow them unto the honoring of God and Christ, and edifying of

the congregation, which is the body of Christ.

The causes that moved me to translate, I thought better that others

should imagine, then that I should rehearse them. Moreover I supposed

it superfluous, for who is so blind tare why light should be shewed to

them that walk in darkness, where they cannot but stumble, and where to

stumble is the danger of eternal damnation, other so despiteful that he

would envy any man (I speak not his brother) so necessary a thing, or

so bedlam made to affirm that good is the natural cause of blindness,

and deafness to proceed out of sight, and that lying should be grounded

in troth and verity, and not rather seen contrary, that light

destroyeth darkness, and verity reproveth all manner saying.

After it had pleased God to put in my mind, and also to give me grace

to translate this fore rehearsed new testament into our English tongue,

howsoever we have done it. I supposed it very necessary to put you in

remembrance of certain points, which are: that ye well understand what

these words mean:

The old testament.

The new testament.

The law.

The gospell.

Moses.

Christ.

Nature.

Grace.

Worshipping and believing.

Deeds and faith;

Lest we ascribe, to the one that which belongeth to the other, and make

of Christ Moses, of the gospell the Law, despise grace and rob faith:

and fall from meek learning unto idle despicions, brawling and scolding

about words.

((The old testament.))

The old testament is a base, where in is written the law and

commandments of God, and the deeds of them which fulfill them, and of

them also which fulfilleth them not.

((The new testament))

The new testament is a base where in are contained the promises of God,

and the deeds of them which believe them or believe them not.

((The gospell or evangelion))

Evangelion (that we call the gospell) is a Greek word; and signifieth

good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man's heart glad,

and maketh him sing, dance, and leap for joy. As when David had killed

Goliah the giant, came glad tidings unto the jewes, that their fearful

and cruel enemy was slain, and they delivered out of all danger: for

gladness whereof, they sung, danced, and were joyful. In like manner is

the Evangelion of God (which we call Gospel; and the New Testament)

joyful tidings; and as some say, a good hearing published by the

apostles throughout all the world, of Christ the right David how that

he hath fought with sin, with death, and the devil, and overcome them.

Whereby all men that were in bondage to sin, wounded with death,

overcome of the devil, are with out their own merits or deservings,

loosed, justified, restored to life, and saved, brought to liberty, and

reconciled unto the favour of God, and set at one with him again: which

tidings as many as believe, laud praise and thank God; are glad, sing

and dance for joy.

((with evangelion is called a testament))

This evangelion or gospell (that is to say, such joyful tidings) is

called the new testament. Because that as a man when he shall die

appointeth his goods to be dealt and distributed after his death among

them which he nameth to be his heirs. Even so Christ before his death

commanded and appointed that such evangelion, gospell, or tidings

should be declared through out all the world, and there with to give

unto all that believe all his goods, that is to say, his life, where

with he swallowed and devoured up death: his righteousness, where with

he banished sin: his salvation, where with he overcame eternal

damnation. Now can the wretched man (that is wrapped in sin, and is in

danger to death and hell) hear no more joyous a thing, then such glad

and comfortable tidings, of Christ. So that he cannot but be glad and

laugh from the low bottom of his heart, if he believe that the tidings

are true.

To strength such faith with all, God promised this his evaglion in the

old testament by the prophets (as Paul sayth in the first chapter unto

the romans). How that he was chosen out to preach God's evangelion,

which he before had promised by the prophets in the holy scriptures

that treat of his son which was born of the seed of David. In the third

chapter of Genesis, God saith to the serpent: I will put hatred between

thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, that self seed shall

tread thy head under foot. Christ is this woman's seed, he it is that

hath trodden under foot the devil's seed, that is to say sin, death,

hell, and all his power. For with out this seed can no man avoid sin,

death, hell and everlasting damnation.

Again Gen. xxij. God promised Abraham saying: by thy seed shall all the

generations of the earth be blessed. Christ is that seed of Abraham

sayth saint Paul in the third to the Galathyans: He hast blessed all

the world through the gospell. For where Christ is not, there remaineth

the curse that fell on Adam as soon as he had sinned; So that they are

in bondage under the domination of sin, death, and hell. Against this

curse blesseth now the gospell all the world, in as much as it crieth

openly, who so ever believeth on the seed of Abraham shall be blessed,

that is, he shall be delivered from sin, death and hell, and shall

hence forth continue righteous, living, and saved for ever, as Christ

him self saith (in the xi. of Ihon) He that believeth on me shall never

more die.

The law (saith the gospell of Ihon in the first chapter) was given by

Moses: but grace and verity by Iesus Christ. The law (whose mnistrer is

Moses) was given to bring us unto the knowledge of our selves, that we

might there by feel and perceive what we are of nature. The law

condemneth us and all our deeds, and is called of Paul (in the third

chap. Of the second pistel unto the Corrinthians) the ministration of

death. For it killeth our consciences and driveth us to desperation, in

as much as it requireth of us that which is unpossible for us to do. It

requireth of us the death of an whole, man. It requireth perfect love

from the low bottom and ground of the heart, as well in all things

which we suffer, as in those things which we do. But saith Ihon (in the

same place) grace and verity is given us in Christ. So that when the

law hath passed upon us, and condemned us to death (which is his nature

to do) then have we in Christ grace, that is to say favour, promises of

life, of mercy, of pardon freely by the merits of Christ, and in Christ

have we verity and troth, in that God fulfilleth all his promises to

them that believe. Therefore is the gospell the ministration of life.

Paul calleth it, in the fore rehearsed place of the second chap. To the

Cor. The ministration of the spirit, and of righteousness. In the

gospell when we believe the promises, we receive the spirit of life,

and are justified in the blood of Christ from all things where of the

law condemned us. Of Christ it is written in the fore rehearsed first

chapter of Ihon: This is he of whose abundance, or fullness, all we

have received, grace for grace, or favour for favour. That is to say,

for the favour that God hath to his son Christ, he giveth unto us his

favour, and good will, as a father to his sons. As affirmeth Paul

saying: which loved us in his beloved before the creation of the world.

For the love that God hath to Christ, he loveth us, and not for our own

faith. Christ is made lord over all, and is called in scripture God's

mercy foretold whosoever flyeth to Christ, can neither bear nor receive

of God any other thing save mercy.

In the old testament are many promises, which are nothing else but the

evangelion or gospell, to save those that believed them, from the

vengeance of the law. And in the new testament is oft made mention of

the law, to condemn them, which believe not the promises. Moreover the

law and gospell may never be separate: for the gospell and promises

serve but for troubled consciences which are brought to desperation and

feel the pains of hell and death under the law, and are in captivity

and bondage under the law. In all my deeds I must have the law before

me to condemn mine unperfections. For all that I do (be I never so

perfect) is yet damnable sin, when it is compared to the law, which

requireth the ground and bottom of mine heart. I must therefore have

always the law in my sight, that I may be meek in the spirit, and give

God all the laud and praise, ascribing to him all righteousness, and to

my self all unrigteousness and sin. I must also have the promises

before mine eyes, that I despair not, in which promises I see the

mercy, favour, and good will of God upon me in the blood of his son

Christ, which hath made satisfaction for mine unperfections, and

fulfilled from me, that which I could not do.

Here may ye perceive that two manner of people are sore deceived. First

they which justify them self with outward deeds, in that they abstain

outwardly from that which the law forbiddeth, and do outwardly that

which the law commandeth. They compare them selves to open sinners and

in respect of them justify them selves condemning the open sinners.

They see not how the law requireth love from the bottom of the heart.

If they did they would not condemn their neighbours. Love hideth the

multitude of sins, saith Saynct Peter in his first pistel. For whom I

love from the deep bottom and ground of mine heart, him condemn I not,

neither reckon his sins, but suffer his weakness and infirmity, as a

mother the weakness of her son, until he grow up in to a perfect man.

Those also are deceived which with out all fear of God give them selves

unto all manner vices with full consent, and full delectation, having

no respect to the law of God (under whose vengeance they are locked up

in captivity) but say: god is merciful and christ died for us,

supposing that such dreaming and imagination is that faith which is so

greatly commended in holy scripture. Nay that is not faith, but rather

a foolish opinion springing of their own nature, and is not given them

of the spirit of God. True faith is (as saith the apostle Paul) the

gift of God and is given to sinners after the law hath passed upon them

and hath brought their consciences unto the brim of desperation, and

sorrows of hell.

They that have this right faith, consent to the law that it is

righteous and good, and justify God which made the law, and have

delectation in the law (not with stonding that they can not fulfill it,

for their weakness) and they abhor what soever the law forbiddeth,

though they cannot avoid it. And their great sorrow is, because they

cannot fulfill the will of God in the law, and the spirit that is in

them crieth to God night and day for strength and help with tears (as

saith Paul) that cannot be expressed with tongue.

((A justiciary))

The first, that is to say a justiciary, which justifieth him self with

his outward deeds, cosenteth not to the law in ward, neither hath

delectation therein, yee, he would rather that no such law were. So

justifieth he not God, but hateth him as a tyrant, neither careth he

for the promises, but will with his own strength be favour of him self:

no wise glorifieth he God, though he seem outward to do.

((A sensual man))

The second, that is to say the sensual person, as a voluptuous swine,

neither feareth God in his law, neither is thankful to him for his

promises and mercy, which is set forth in Christ to all them that

believe.

((A Christen man.))

The right Christen man consenteth to the law that it is righteous, and

justifieth God in the law, for he affirmeth that God is righteous and

just, which is author of the law, he believeth the promises of God, and

so justifieth God, judging him true and believing that he will fulfill

his promises. With the law he condemneth him self and all his deeds,

and giveth all the praise to God. He believeth the promises, and

ascribeth all troth to god, thus every where justifieth he God, and

praiseth God.

((Nature.))

By nature through the fall of Adam, are we the children of wrath, heirs

of the vengeance of God by birth, yee and from our conception, we have

our fellowship with the damned devils under the power of darkness and

rule of satan, while we are yet in our mother's wombs, though we shew

not forth the fruits of sin, yet are we full of the natural poison

where of all sinful deeds spring, and cannot but sin outwards (be we

never so young) if occasion be given, for our nature is to do sin, as

is the nature of a serpent to sting. And as a serpent yet young, or yet

un-brought forth is full of poison, and cannot afterward (when the time

is come and occasion given) but bring forth the fruits there of. And as

an edder, a toad, or a snake is hated of man, (not for the evil that it

hath done, but for the poison that is in it and hurt which it cannot

but do) So are we hated of God for that natural poison which is

conceived and born with us, before we do any outward evil. And as the

evil, which a venomous worm doeth, maketh it not a serpent: but be

cause it is a venomous worm. Therefore doeth it evil and poisoneth. And

as the fruit maketh not the tree evil: but because it is an evil tree,

therefore bringeth it forth evil furit, when the season of fruit is.

Even so do not our evil deeds make us evil: but because that of nature

we are evil, therefore we both think and do evil, and are under

vengeance, under the law, convicted to eternal damnation by the law,

and are contrary to the will of God in all our will, and in all things

consent to the will of the land.

By grace (that is to say by favour) we are plucked out of Adam the

ground of all evil, and grafted in Christ the root of all goodness. In

Christ God loved us his elect and chosen, before the world began, and

referred us unto the knowledge of his son and of his holy gospell, and

when the gospell is preached to us he openeth our hearts, and giveth us

grace to believe and putteth the spirit of Christ in us, and we know

him as our father most merciful, and consent to the law, and love it

inwardly in our heart, and desire to fulfill it, and sorrow because we

cannot, which will (sin we of frailty never so much) is sufficient till

more strength be given us, the blood of Christ hath made satisfaction

for the rest: the blood of Christ hath obtained all things for us of

God. Christ is our satisfaction, redeemer, deliverer, saviour from

vengeance and wrath. Observe and mark in the pistels of Paul, and

Peter, and the gospell and pistels of Ihon what Christ is unto us.

((faith, love, works))

By faith are we never with out love and good works, yet is our saving

imputed neither to love nor unto good works, but unto faith only. For

love and works are under the law which requireth perfection, and the

ground and fountain of the heart, and damneth all imperfections. Now is

faith under the promises, which damn not: but give all grace, mercy and

favour, and whatsoever is contained in the promises.

((Righteousness other wise justifying or justice))

Righteousness is divers; Blind reason imagineth many matter of

righteousnesses. As the just ministration of all manner of laws, and

the observing of them, and moral virtues were in philosophers put their

felicity and blessedness, which all are nothing in the sight of God.

There is in like manner the justifying of ceremonies, some imagine them

their own selves, some counterfeit other, saying in their blind reason:

such holy persons did thus and thus, and they were holy men, therefore

if I do so like wise I shall please God: but they have none answer of

God, that that pleaseth. The jewes seek righteousness in their

ceremonies which God gave unto them, not for to justify: but to

describe and paint Christ unto them, of which jewes testifieth Paul

saying how that they have affection to God: but not after knowledge,

for they go about to stablish their own justice, and are not obedient

to the justice or righteousness that cometh of God. The cause is

verily, that except a man cast away his own imagination and reason, he

cannot perceive God, and understand the virtue and power of the blood

of Christ. There is the righteousness of works (as I said before) when

the heart is away, they feel not how the law is spiritual and cannot be

fulfilled, but from the bottom of the heart. There is a full

righteousness, when the law is fulfilled from the ground of the heart.

This had neither Peter nor Paul in this life perfectly: but sighed

after it. They were so far forth blessed in Christ, that they hungered

and thirsted after it. Paul had this thirst, he consented to the law of

God, that it ought so to be, but he found an other lust in his members

contrary to the lust and desire of his mind, and therefore cried out

saying: Oh wretched man that I am: who shall deliver me from this body

of death, thanks be to God thorow Iesus Christ. The righteousness that

before God is of value, is to believe the promises of God, after the

law hath confounded the conscience. As when the temporal law oft times

condemneth the thief or murderer and bringeth him to execution, so that

he saith nothing before him but present death, and then cometh good

tidings, a charter from the King and delivereth him. Likewise when

God's law hath brought the sinner into knowledge of him self, and hath

confounded his conscience, and opened unto him the wrath and vengeance

of God, then cometh good tidings, the Evangelion sheweth unto him the

promises of God in Christ, and how that Christ hath purchased pardon

for him hath satisfied the law for him, and appeased the wrath of God,

and the poor sinner believeth, laudeth and thanketh God, thorow Christ,

and breaketh out into exceeding inward joy and gladness, for that he

hath escaped so great wrath, so heavy vengeance, so fearful and so

everlasting a death, and he hence forth is an hungered, and at thirst

after more righteousness, that he might fulfill the law, and mourneth

continually commending his weakness unto God in the blood of our

saviour Christ Iesus.

Here shall ye see compendiously and plainly set out

the order and practice of every thing afore rehearsed.

(Adam bringeth us to bondage.)

The fall of Adam hath made us heirs of the vengeance and wrath of God,

and heirs of eternal damnation; And hath brought us into captivity and

bondage under the devil; And the devil is our lord, and our ruler, our

head, our governor, our prince, yee and our god. And our will is locked

and knit faster unto the will of the devils, then cond an hundred

thousand chains bind a man unto a post. Unto the devils' will consent

we, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our might, power,

strength, will and lust. With what poisoned, deadly, and venomous hate,

hateth a man his enemy; With how great malice of mind inwardly do we

slay and murder; With what violence and rage, ye and with how fervent

lust commit we advoutry, fornication, and such like uncleanness: with

what pleasure and delectation inwardly serveth a glutton his belly;

With what diligence deceive we; How busily seek we things of the world;

Whatsoever we do, think, or imagine, is abominable in the sight of God.

And we are as it were asleep in so deep blindness, that we can neither

see, nor feel in what misery, thralldom, and wretchedness we are in,

till Moses come and wake us, and publish he the law. When we hear the

law truly preached, how that we ought to love and honour God with all

our strength and might, from the low bottom of the heart: and our

neighbours (yee our enemies.) as our selves inwardly from the ground of

the heart, and to do whatsoever God biddeth, and abstain from

whatsoever God forbiddeth, with all love and meekness, with a fervent

and a burning lust, from the center of the heart, then beginneth the

conscience to rage against the law, and against God; No less (be it

never so great a tempest) is so unquiet. It is not possible for a

natural man to consent to the law, that it should be good, or that God

should be righteous, which maketh the law. Man's wit, reason, and will,

are so fast glued, yee nailed and chained unto the will of the devil.

Neither can any creature lowse the bonds, save the blood of Christ.

(( Christ letteth us at liberty ))

This is the captivity and bondage whence Christ delivered us, redeemed,

and lowsed us. His blood, his death, his patience, in suffering rebukes

and wrongs, his prayers and fastings, his meekness and fulfilling of

the utmost point of the law, appeased the wrath of God, brought the

favor of God to us again, obtained that God should love us first, and

be our father, and that a merciful father, that will consider our

infirmities and weakness, and will give us his spirit again (which was

taken away in the fall of Adam) to rule govern and strength us, and to

break the bonds of Satan, where in we were so strait bound.

((The evangleion bringeth faith, faith bringeth love: love

worketh))

When Christis thus wise preached, and the promises rehearsed, which are

contained in the prophets, in the psalms, and in divers places of the

five books of Moses: then the hearts of them which are elect and

chosen, begin to meek soft, and to melt at the bounteous mercy of God,

and kindness shewed of Christ. For when the evangelion is preached, the

spirit of God entereth in to them which God hath ordained and appointed

unto eternal life, and openeth there inward eyes, and worketh such

belief in them.

When the wofull consciences feel and taste how sweet a thing the bitter

death of Christ is, and how merciful and loving God is through Christ's

purchasing and merits; They begin to love again, and to consent to the

law of God, how that it is good, and ought so to be, and that God is

righteous which made it; And desire to fulfill the law, even as a sick

man desireth to be whole, and are anhungered, and athirst after more

righteousness, and after more strength, to fulfill the law more

perfectly. And in all that they do, or omit and leave undone, they seek

God's honour, and his will with meekness, ever condemning the

unperfectness of their deeds by the law.

((Christ bringeth all goodness freely, and giveth an ensample how

to be stow in godly.))

Now Christ stondeth us in double sted, and serveth us two manner ways.

First he is our redeemer, deliverer, reconciler, mediator, intercessor,

advocate, attorney, solicitor, our hope, comfort, shield, protection,

defender, strength, health, satisfaction, and salvation. His blood, his

death, all that he ever did, is ours. And Christ him self, with all

that he is or can do, is ours. His blood sheding and all that he did,

doeth me as good service, as though I my self had done it. And God (as

great as he is) is mine with all that he hath, thorow Christ and his

purchasing.

Secondarily after that we be overcome with love and kindness, and now

seek to do the will of God (which is a christen man's nature) Then have

we Christe an ensample to counterfeit, as saith Christ him self in

Ihon: I have given you an ensample. And in an other evangelist, he

saith; He that will be great among you shall be your servant and

minister, as the son of man came to minister and not to be ministered

onto.

((Faith receiveth of God, and love bestoweth the same on his

neighbour.))

And Paul saith: Counterfeit Christ. And Peter saith: Christ died for

you, and left you an ensample to follow his steps. Whatsoever therefore

faith hath received of God thorow Christ's blood and deserving, that

same must love shed out everywhere, and bestow it on our neighbours

unto their profit, yee and that though they be our enemies. By faith we

receive of God, and by love we shed out again. And that must we do

freely after the ensample of Christ with out any other respect, save

our neighbour's wealth only, and neither look for reward in earth, nor

yet in heaven for our deeds: but of pure love must we bestow ourselves,

all that we have, and all that we are able to do, even on our enemies

to bring them to God, considering nothing but their wealth, as Christ

did ours.

((A true christyn man believeth that heaven is his already by Christ's

purchasing,

And therefore loveth, and worketh, to honour God only, and to draw all

things to God.))

Christ did not his deeds to obtain heaven thereby (that had been a

madness) heaven was his already, he was heir thereof, it was his by

inheritance: but did them freely for our sakes, considering no thing

but our wealth, and to bring the favour of God to us again, and us to

God. As no natural son that is his father's heir, doeth his father's

will because he would be heir, that he is already by birth: his father

gave him that yer he was born, and is lothther that he should go with

out it, then he himself hath wit to be: but of pure love doeth he that

he doeth. And ask him why he doeth any thing that he doeth, he

answereth: my father bade, it is my father's will, it pleaseth my

father. Bond servants work for hire, Children for love. For their

father with all he hath, is theirs already. So doeth a christen man

freely all that he doeth, considereth nothing but the will of God, and

his neighbour's wealth only. If I live chaste, I do it not to obtain

heaven thereby. For then should I do wrong to the blood of Christ:

Christ's blood hath obtained me that, Christ's merits have made me heir

thereof. He is both door and way thither wards. Neither that I look for

an heir room in heaven, then they shall have which live in wedlock,

other then a hoar of the stews (if she repent) for that were the pride

of lucifer: But freely to wait on the evangelion, and to serve my

brother with all, even as one hand helpeth another, or one member

another, because one feeleth another's grief, and the pain of the one

is the pain of the other. Whatsoever is done to the least of us

(whether it be good or bad) it is done to Christ. And whatsoever is

done to my brother (if I be a christen man) that same is done to me:

neither doeth my brother's pain grieve me less then mine own. If it

were not so: how saith Paul: let him that rejoiceth, rejoice in the

Lord: that is to say Christ, which is lord over all creatures. If my

merits obtained me heaven, or an higher room there, then had I where in

I might rejoice besides the Lord.

((To bynd and lowse.))

Here see ye the nature of the law, and the nature of the evangelion.

How the Law bindeth and damneth all men, and the Evangelion lowseth

them again. The law goeth before, and the evangelion followeth. When a

preacher preacheth the Law, he bindeth all consciences, and when he

preacheth the Gospell, he loveth them again. These two salves (I mean

the Law and the Gospell) useth God and his preacher to heal and cure

sinners withall. The law driveth out the disease, and maketh it appear,

and is a sharp salve, and a fretting coursey, and killeth the deed

fleshly, and lowseth and draweth the sores out by the roots, and all

corruption. It pulleth from a man the trust and confidence that he hath

in him self, and in his own works, merits, deservings and ceremonies.

It killeth him, sendeth him down to hell, and bringeth him to utter

desperation, and prepareth the way of the lord, as it is written of

Ihon the Baptist: for it is not possible that Christ should come to a

man, as long as he trusteth in him self, or in any worldly thing. Then

cometh the Evengelion, a more gentle plaster, which sowpleth, and

swageth the wounds of the conscience, and bringeth health. It bringeth

the spirit of God, which lowseth the honds of satan, and coupleth us to

God and his will thorow strong faith and fervent love, with bonds too

strong for the devil, the world, or any creature to lowse them.

((A christen man feeleth the working of the holy ghost in his soul:

and in all tribulations and adversities fealeth God a merciful

father and a loving.))

And the poor and wretched sinner feeleth so great mercy, love, and

kindness in God, that he is sure in him self how that it is not

possible that God should forsake him, or withdraw his mercy and love

from him. And boldly crieth out with Paul saying: Who shall separate us

from the love that God loveth us withall? That is to say: what shall

make me believe that God loveth me not? Shall tribulation? Anguish?

Persecution? Shall hunger? Nakedness? Shall a sword? Nay, I am sure

that neither death, nor life, neither angel, neither rule, nor power,

neither present things, nor things to come, neither high nor low,

neither any creature able to separate us from the love of God which is

in Christ Iesu our lord. In all such tribulations a Christen man

perceiveth that God is his father, and loveth him, even as he loved

Christ when he shed his blood on the cross. Finally, as before, when I

was bond to the devil and his will, I wrought all manner evil and

wickedness, not for hell's sake which is there ward of sin, but be

cause I was heir of hell by birth and bondage to the devil, did I evil.

For I would none other ways do; to do sin was my nature. Even so now

since I am coupled to God by Christ's blood, do I well, not for

heaven's sake: but be cause I am heir of Heaven by grace and Christ's

purchasing, and have the spirit of God, I do good freely, for so is my

nature. As a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and an evil tree evil

fruit. By the fruits shall ye know what the tree is: a man's deeds

declare what he is within but make him neither good nor bad &c. We must

be first evil yer we do evil, as a serpent is first poisoned yer he

poison. We must be also good yer we do good yer we do good, as the fire

must be first hot yer it warm any thing. Take an ensample. As those

blind which are cured in the evangelion, could not see till Christ had

given them sight; And deaf could not hear, till Christ had given them

hearing; And those sick could not do the deeds of an whole man, till

Christ had given them health: So can no man do good in his soul, till

Christ have lowsed him out of the bonds of satan, and have given him

where with to do good, yee and first have poured into him that self

good thing which he sheddeth forth afterward on other. Whatsoever is

our own is sin. Whatsoever is above that, is Christ's gift, purchase,

doing, and working. He bought it of his father derely with his blood,

yee with his most bitter death and gave his life for it. Whatsoever

good thing is in us, that is given us freely with out our deserving or

merits for Christ's blood's sake. That we desire to follow the will of

God, it is the gift of Christ's blood. That we now hate the devil's

will (where unto we were so fast locked, and could not but love it) is

also the gift of Christ's blood, unto whom belongeth the praise and

honour of our good deeds, and not unto us.

(Preface of the Worms octavo edition of 1526.)

To the Reader.

Give diligence, reader (I exhort thee) that thou come with a pure mind,

and, as the Scripture saith, with a single eye, unto the words of

health and of eternal life, by the which (if we repent and believe

them) we are born anew, created afresh, and enjoy the fruits of the

blood of Christ. Which blood crieth not for vengeance, as the blood of

Abel, but hath purchased life, love, favor, grace, blessing, and

whatsoever is promised in the Scriptures, to them that believe and obey

God, and standeth between us and wrath, vengeance, curse, and

whatsoever the Scripture threateneth against the unbelievers and

disobedient, which resist, and consent not in their hearts to the law

of God, that it is right, holy, just, and ought so to be.

Mark the plain and manifest places of the Scriptures, and in doubtful

places see thou add no interpretation contrary to them; but (as Paul

saith) let all be conformable and agreeing to the faith.

Note the difference of the Law and of the Gospell. The one asketh and

requireth, the other pardoneth and forgiveth. The one threateneth, the

other promiseth all good things to them that set their trust in Christ

only. The gospel signifieth glad tidings, and is nothing but the

promises of good things. All is not gospel that is written in the

gospel book: for if the law were away, thou couldest not know what the

gospel meant, even as thou couldest not see pardon, favor, and grace

except the law rebuked thee, and declared unto thee thy sin, misdeed,

and trespass.

Repent and believe the gospel, as saith Christ in the first of Mark.

Apply alway the Law to thy deeds, whether thou find lust (1) in the

bottom of thine heart to the law-ward, and so shalt thou no doubt

repent, and feel in thyself a certain sorrow, pain, and grief to thine

heart, because thou canst not with full lust do the deeds of the law.

Apply the gospel that is to say the promises unto the deserving of

Christ, and to the mercy of God and his truth, and so shalt thou not

despair, but shall feel God as a kind and a merciful father. And his

spirit shall dwell in thee, and shall be strong in thee, and the

promises shall be given thee at the last (though not by and by, lest

thou shouldest forget thyself, and be negligent) and all threatenings

shall be forgiven thee for Christ's blood's sake to whom commit thyself

altogether without respect either of thy good deeds or of thy bad.

Them that are learned Christianly I beseech forasmuch as I am sure, and

my conscience beareth me record, that of a pure intent, singly and

faithfully I have interpreted it, as far forth as God gave me the gift

of knowledge and understanding that the rudeness of the work now at the

first time offend them not, but that they consider how that I had no

man to counterfeit, neither was helped with English of any that had

interpreted the same or such like things in the Scripture beforetime.

Moreover, even very necessity and cumbrance (God is record) above

strength which I will not rehearse, lest we should seem to boast

ourselves caused that many things are lacking which necessarily are

required. Count it as a thing not having his full shape, but as it were

born before his time, even as a thing begun rather than finished. In

time to come (if God have appointed us thereunto) we will give it his

full shape, and put out if aught be added superfluously, and add to if

aught be overseen through negligence, and will enforce to bring to

compendiousness that which is now translated at the length, and to give

light where it is required, and to seek in certain places more proper

English, and with a table to expound the words which are not commonly

used and shew how the Scripture useth many words which are otherwise

understood of the common people, and to help with a declaration where

one tongue taketh not another; and will endeavor ourselves, as it were,

to seeth (2) it better, and to make it more apt for the weak stomachs;

desiring them that are learned and able, to remember their duty, and to

help thereunto, and to bestow unto the edifying of Christ's body (which

is the congregation of them that believe) those gifts which they have

received of God for the same purpose. The grace that cometh of Christ

be with them that love him. Pray for us.

(1) "Lust" here is used in a good sense: eagerness to obey.

(2) "Seeth" means "boil, cook."