The copye of an Epistle, the whiche Hieremie the prophete sent vnto the chyldren of Israhel, beinge in captiuite vnder Nabuchodonozor the kyng of Babylon, for to instruct them as he was cōmaūded by god, taken out of the .vi. chap. of Baruch.
BYcause of the synnes that ye haue cōmytted before God, ye shalbe ledde prisoners in to Babylon by Nabuchodonozor kyng of the Babylōs, whan ye therfore shall come vnto Babylon, ye shalbe there many yeres and longe tyme vnto .vii. generations, but after that, I shall deliuer you from thēs in peas, Than shall ye se gods of golde, of syluer, of stone, and of tree, yt shalbe borne vpon mens shulders, puttynge the people in feare. Beware therfore that ye do not lyke vnto the straū gers, and that ye drede them not, nor be moued wt any feare. Therfore whan ye shal se ye people worshyppyng before and behynde, say in your hartes, Lorde god, it is yu, whiche muste be worshypped, And myne angell is with you, & I my [Page] selfe shall require your soules. For the wod of them is framed & fashoned by the carpentours, and those that be of golde & syluer, are false, and can not speake. And lyke as apparell is made for a virgin that loueth, so are they made of ye golde yt they haue receyued. Theyr gods haue golden crownes on theyr heddes, frō whiche the prestes do take the golde and syluer, and deuide it amonge them selues. They gyue also therof vnto harlottes, & garnysshe hores therwith. And whan they haue receiued it agayne of the harlots, they garnysshe theyr gods therwith, yet can they not be kepte from rustyng and vermyne. For whan they be couered wt garmētes of purple, the prestes must be fayne to make clene the faces of them, by cause of the dust of the house, wherof there is moche plentie in those [Page] parties. Some also haue septres in theyr handes lyke vnto men, & lyke vnto iudges of a realme, the which putteth not hym to dethe that trespaseth agaynst them. Some also haue swordes in theyr handes and axes, yet can not they delyuer them selues from batayle, nor frō theues. wherfore be it knowen vnto you, that they be no gods, therfore do ye no worshyp vnto them. And lyke as a mans vessell whan it is brokē seruethe to no purpose, euen so be theyr goddes, whan they are set vp in a house, their eies are full of dust by reason of their fete that come in. And lyke as dores are made fast about hym yt hath offended a kynge, or as a corps that is brought vnto his graue, is kept in, Euen so do the preestis make sure the doores with barres and lockes, to thentent that they shall not be robbed of theues. [Page] The people do lyght candels befor [...] them, and that in great nombre, of the whiche they se not one, for they are as it were blockes in an house. And they say that the serpentes of the erthe do lycke theyr hartes, whā they do eate them & their garmētes, and yet they feele them not. Theyr facis are made blacke with ye smoke that is in the house. The howlets and swalowes, and the byrdes do flee vpon theyr heddes, ye and also the wawlynge cattes, wherby ye may knowe that they are no gods▪ therfore do ye not feare them. The golde also which they haue to make them glorious, wyll not glyster, excepte ye rust be skoured of. For whā they were fyrst caste, they felte nothyng. They were bought with all maner of prices, yet is there no spirite in them. For lacke of fete, they are caryed on folkꝭ shoulders, wherby [Page] the people may perceyue their impotencie. Confounded be they therfore that worshyppe them. And for that cause, if they hap to fal downe on the erth, they are not able to rise by them selues. And agayn, if one do set them vpryghte, they can not stande by them selues, but men be fayne for to stay them vp with their shoulders, lyke as they do corpsys. Theyr preestis do selle that that is offered vnto them, and abuse it, ye and theyr women do take therof, and gyue neuer a whyt vnto ye syck nor vnto the poore women vnpuryfyed and hauynge theyr flowres do handell of theyr sacrifices. Seinge therfore that ye do knowe by these thinges, that they be no gods, do not feare them. For what cause are they called gods? bycause women do offer all maner of thynges vnto those gods of golde, of siluer, [Page] and of tree, and prestes do syt in the houses of them, with iagged vestementes, hauynge theyr heddes and berdes shauen, whose heddes are bare. And they rore cryeng out vpō theyr gods, lyke as they do at the supper of one yt is deed. The prestes take away theyr garmētes, & therwith do clothe theyr wyues & theyr chyldren. And if any do them displeasure, or do them pleasure, they are not able to requite it, no more are they able to make a kynge, nor to depose. Sēblably they can gyue no ryches, nor can reuenge theyr harme. If any haue made a vowe vnto them, and hath not ꝑfourmed it, they do not require it. They saue no man from dethe, neither do they defende the weake from the myghtye, They restore not the blynde vnto syght, neyther do they delyuer any man from necessite. They take [Page] no pytie of the wydowe, neither do they any good vnto orphelyns.
Theyr goddes of tree, stone, golde, and syluer, be lyke vnto stoones of the moūtayne. And they that worshyppe them shall be confounded. Howe than may it be supposed or sayd that they be gods? Moreouer the Caldees do no honour vnto thē whiche whan they perceyued that the dombe coude not speke, they presented it vnto Bel, prayinge hym yt he wold make it to speke, as though the thynges that moue not, myght haue any sense or felyng. And they them selfes whan they ꝑceyue this, wyll forsake them. For theyr gods them selues lacke theyr senses. women also beinge gyrded wt cordes do syt in the hyghe wayes, burnynge the leues of the Olyue trees, And whan it fortuneth that one of thē is taken vp by any man passing [Page] by the hyghe way, and slepeth with hym, she vpbraydeth her neyghbour therwith, that she is not estemed so worthye as her selfe, and that her corde is not broken, but all thinges that be done vnto them are false. Howe than may hit be supposed or sayd, that they be goddes? For they are made by workemen and golde smythes, They shalbe none other thīges, but euen as it pleaseth preestes to haue thē. The goldsmythes also that make them, lyue not euer. Howe is it possyble than ye thinges of theyr makyng shulde be goddis? But they haue lefte fayned thinges and opprobred to them yt shal come after them. For whan warre shall chaunce vnto them and aduersyte, the prestes do immagyne wher they may hyde them selues with them. Howe than may it be beleued, that these are goddes? The whiche can [Page] neither saue them selues from batayle, nor delyuer them selues from aduersities. for al be it they be made of woode, of stone, of golde, and of syluer, it shall be knowen afterwarde, through out all nations, yt they are counterfet thinges, And it shalbe manyfest vnto kynges, that they are no goddes, but the workes of mans handes, and yt no worke of God is in them, wherby than it is euident that they be no goddes, but the workes of mannes handes, & that no worke of God is in them. They constitute no kynge in any realme, nor wyll sende rayne vnto men. They wyll discerne no iugement, neither wyll they defēde coū treys from iniuryes. For they can do nothyng no more than ye crowes that are betwyxte the skye and the erthe. For if there chaunce any fyre vpon the house of those goddes of [Page] tree, of golde, and of syluer, theyr prestes forthwith wyll flee, & saue them selues, but theyr goddes shall be burned in the myddes lyke as blockes, and wyll not withstande any kyng nor batayle. Howe than may it be estemed or suffered, that they shuld be goddes? These gods of tree, of stone, of golde, and of syluer, the which are of les strēgth than are the wycked, can not saue them selfes from theues. They shal robbe them of theyr golde & syluer, and theyr garmentes, wher wt they be clothed, & yet can not helpe them selues. Better it is therfore to be a kynge that sheweth his puissaunce, or to be a profytayle vessell in an house, wherin the owner may take plesure, or to be a dore in an house, that kepeth the stuffe in saufegarde than to be false goddes. The sonne and the mone, and the sterres that [Page] do shyne, whan they are sent forth for necessary thynges, do obey.
Semblably the lyghtnynge whan it apperethe, it is visible, And lyke wyse ye wynde doth blowe in euery contreye. And the cloudes (whan they are cōmaunded by god to passe through the worlde) they do accordynge as they be cōmaunded. The fyre also that is sent from aboue for to cōsume hylles and woddes, doth as it is cōmaunded. But these are not lyke neyther in beautie nor in vertue, vnto any of these thynges. wherfore it is neither to be estemed nor sayde, that they be goddes, for asmoche as they can not gyue iugement, nor profyte any thynge vnto men. Ye therfore knowynge yt they be no goddes, do not feare them, for they wyl neyther curse kynges, nor blesse them. Also they do not shewe vnto the people signes from heuen, [Page] neyther shall they shyne as the son, ne gyue lyghte as the mone. The beastis are better than they, which can flee vnder houses, & helpe them selues. And so hit can appere vnto you by no meanes, yt they are gods, for whiche cause do not feare them. For lyke as in a place where gourdes do growe, feare kepeth nothīg, euen so be theyr goddes of wodde, syluer, and golde. They be in lyke case as is a whyte thorne in a gardeyn, wherupō euery byrde sitteth. Semblably theyr goddes of wood, golde, and syluer, are lyke vnto a corps that is cast into the darke. Ye may knowe also by ye purple & the other paynted colours, yt they haue vpon thē, yt they be no gods. And in cōclusion they shalbe eaten vp, & rebuke shal come in ye contree, Better is ye iust mā, which hath no ymages for he shalbe farthest from rebukes.