O Lord GOD almighty and Father moste merciful, who thoughe thou be dayly pro­uoked to wrathe and venge­aunce by the grieuous offen­ses and sinnes of vs thy most disobedient children, yet ne­uerthelesse art so pacient and of such long sufferaunce, that thou holdeste thy rod, tyll by our outrageous contemptes and most wilfull breakinges of th [...] cōmaundementes thou [Page]art for our correccion cōstreigned to strike: remember good Lord thine accustomed goodnesse towardes thy people, whome of thine owne fatherly thendernesse thou hadest e­uer more lieffer to saue thē to spill, to emend thē, to destroy, to forgeue then to punyshe. What soeuer scourge or affliecions thou diddest in old time eyther threaten or laye vpon the stubberne & vnrepentaū ­ce people of Israell, yet dyd­dest thou neuer shutte vp thy mercies from them whan so­euer they woulde wyth all their herte returne vnto the.Gene. 18. Whan the crye of Zodome & Gomorre came vnto thyne eare for their most grieuous abominaciōs: yet such is thy readines to shew mercy, that [Page]at the prayer of thy seruaunt Abraham thou madeste pro­misse to saue the cityes and not to destroy them. Firste if fifty, secondely if fourtye fiue, than yf fortye, afterwarde if thirty,Ioan. 3. at last if twenty, yea finally if tenne righteous per­sones could haue bene found in them. Whā thy Prophete Ionas had proclaimed the destruccion of Niniue for their great and manifolde sinnes: yet for their repentaunce sa­ke, thou diddest most gladly and readily call backe thy so­re sentence afore pronounced against them.4. Re. 20 Whan thy Prophete Isay had at thy cōmaū ­demente declared to Kynge Ezechias that he shoulde not scape death, yet for his herty prayers sake thou diddest reuoke [Page]that sentence agayne, & diddest adde, fyfteen yeares vnto his dayes. And we also now O Lorde acknowledge our manifold sinnes and most grieuous transgressiōs. We confesse that we haue moste iustely deserued this sodayn plague & mortall disease and a greate deale wurse. We graunt that we haue by oure wickednesse, moste worthely enkēdled thy wrathe and in­dignacion against vs. But o Lord what is man that thou wouldest matche thy selfe to trye in battaill agaynst him: What glory should it be, to y^e o Lorde, if thou shouldeste de­stroy all fleash beyng but chaf and duste. Remember good Lord that yf thou wilt stand in triall with vs, we haue no­thynge [Page]to lay for our selfes, nor can be hable to stande in iudgemente before the. We therfore appeale from thy iu­stice vnto thy mercy, whyche for thy names sake & for thine owne glory, thou hast in thine eternall woorde and trueth promysed vnto all suche as will earnestly emend and conuert vnto the. Spar vs the­refore good Lorde, and like as thou hast at this presente sent vnto vs this sodayn pla­gue both as a warning of thy greate indignacion for oure most grieuous sinnes, and also for a token that except we will now emende, we cannot escape thy handes to be bea­ten with a sharper rodde: so graunte O Lorde that thys maye be vnto vs an holsome [Page]medicyne for oure emende­ment of lyfe, and that it may all together redounde vnto thy glorye, so that whether we lyue or dye we maye styll bee thy people, and thou still our God and most tendre lo­uing Father. And forasmuch as euerye good gyfte of true fayth & repentaunce cometh from the geue vs thy grate that we may by this thy most tendre and fatherly correcci­on, returne from our did ini­quities whych haue now prouoked thy wrathe, and also that from hensforth we may serue the in all holinesse and purenesse of lyfe, wherby thy glorye may encrease, and thy name may be magnified. Yea euen emong them that other wise are blasphemers of thy [Page]most holy Ghospell, and doe impute vnto the knowledge of thy most holy woorde sent vnto the world in these later times, al the plagues. Which haue bene prouoked by oure stubbernesse and hardenesse of herte. But heare thou O Lorde the hertye prayers of the faithfull litell flocke tru­styng in thy only mercy: and graunte thys oure petycyon for thy Sonne IESVS Christes sake, to whom with the, and thee Holye Ghooste bee all prayse, honoure and glorye for euer and euer. Soo bee it.