Read the Bible

¹ Agayne, the worde of LORDE spake vnto me, sayenge:² Thou sonne of man, shewe the cite of Ierusalem their abhominacions,³ and saye: thus saieth the LORDE God vnto Ierusalem: Thy progeny and kynred came out of the londe of Canaan, thy father was an Amorite, thy mother a Cethite.⁴ In ye daye of thy byrth when thou wast borne, ye stringe of thy nauel was not cut of: thou wast not bathed in water to make the clene: Thou wast nether rubbed wt salt, ner swedled in cloutes:⁵ No man regarded the so moch, as to do eny of these thinges for ye, or to shewe the soch fauoure, but thou wast vtterly cast out vpon ye felde, yee despised wast thou in the daye of thy byrth.

⁶ Then came I by the, and sawe the troden downe in thine owne bloude, & sayde vnto the: thou shalt be pourged from thine owne bloude, fro thine owne bloude (I saye) shalt thou be clensed.⁷ So I planted the, as the blossome of thy felde: thou art growen vp, & waxe greate: thou hast gotten a maruelous pleasaunt beutie, thy brestes are come vp, thy hayre is goodly growen, where as thou wast naked and bare afore.⁸ Now when I wente by ye, & loked vpon the: beholde, thy tyme was come, yee eue the tyme to wowe the. Then spred I my clothes ouer the, to couer thy dishonestie: Yee I made an ooth vnto the, & maried my self with the (saieth the LORDE God) & so thou becamest myne owne.⁹ Then wa?shed I the with water, & pourged thy bloude from the. I anoynted the with oyle,¹⁰ I gaue the chaunge of raymentes, I made the shues of Taxus lether: I gyrthed ye aboute wt white sylcke, I clothed the with kerchues,¹¹ I decked the wt costly apparell, I put rynges vpon thy fyngers: a chayne aboute thy necke,¹² spages vpo thy foreheade, eare rynges vpon thyne eares, & set a beutifull crowne vpon thine heade.¹³ Thus wast thou deckte with syluer & golde, & thy rayment was of fyne white sylke, of nedle worke & of dyuerse colours. Thou didest eate nothinge but symnels, honny & oyle: maruelous goodly wast thou & beutifull, yee euen a very Quene wast thou:¹⁴ In so moch, that thy beuty was spoken of amonge the Heithen, for thou wast excellet in my beuty, which I put vpo the, saieth the LORDE God.

¹⁵ But thou hast put confidece in thine owne beuty, & played the harlot, when thou haddest gotten the a name. Thou hast committed whordome, with all that wente by the, & hast fulfilled their desyres:¹⁶ Yee thou hast taken thy garmetes of dyuerse colours, & deckte thine aulters therwith, where vpon thou mightest fulfill thine whordome, of soch a fashion, as neuer was done, ner shalbe.¹⁷ The goodly ornametes & Iewels which I gaue the of myne owne golde and syluer, hast thou take, & made the mes ymages therof, and committed whordome withall.¹⁸ Thy garmentes of dyuerse colours hast thou taken, and deckte them therwith: myne oyle & incense hast thou set before them.¹⁹ My meate which I gaue the, as symnels, oyle & hony: (to fede the withall) that hast thou set before them, for a swete sauoure. And this came also to passe, saieth the LORDE God:²⁰ Thou hast take thine owne sonnes & doughters, whom thou haddest begotten vnto me: and these hast thou offred vp vnto them, to be their meate. Is this but a small whordome of thine (thinkest thou)²¹ that thou slayest my children, and geuest them ouer, to be bret vnto them?²² And yet in all thy abhominacions and whordome, thou hast not remembred the dayes of thy youth, how naked and bare thou wast at that tyme, & troden downe in thine owne bloude.²³ After all these thy wickednesses (wo wo vnto the, saieth ye LORDE)²⁴ thou hast buylded thy stewes and brodel houses in euery place: yee at the heade of euery strete²⁵ hast thou buylded the an aulter. Thou hast made thy beuty to be abhorred: thou hast layed out thy legges to euery one that came by, and multiplied thine whordome.²⁶ Thou hast committed fornicacion with the Egipcians thy neghbours, which had moch flesh: & thus hast thou vsed thine whordome, to anger me.²⁷ Beholde, I will stretch out myne honde ouer the, and wil mynish thy stoare of fode, and delyuer the ouer in to the willes of the Philistynes thine enemies, which are ashamed of thy abhominable waye.²⁸ Thou hast played the whore also with the Assirians, which might not satisfie the: Yee thou hast played the harlot, & not had ynough.²⁹ Thus hast thou still comitted thy fornicacion from the londe of Canaan vnto the Caldees, and yet thy lust not satisfied.³⁰ How shulde I circumcide thine herte (saieth the LORDE God) seinge thou doest all these thinges, thou precious whore:³¹ buyldinge thy stewes at the heade of euery strete, and thy brodel houses in all places? Thou hast not bene as an other whore, yt maketh booste of hir wynnynge:³² but as a wife yt breaketh wedlocke, & taketh other in steade of hir hu?bode.³³ Giftes are geuen to all other whores, but thou geuest rewardes vnto all thy louers: & offrest them giftes, to come vnto the out of all places, & to committe fornicacio with the.³⁴ It is come to passe with the in thy whordomes, contrary to the vse of other women: yee there hath no soch fornicacion bene committed after the, seinge that thou profrest giftes vnto other, & no rewarde is geuen the: this is a contrary thinge.

³⁵ Therfore heare the worde of the LORDE, o thou harlot:³⁶ Thus saieth the LORDE God: For so moch as thou hast spet thy moneye, & discouered thy shame, thorow thy whordome with all thy louers, and with all the Idols of thy abhominacions in the bloude of thy children, whom thou hast geuen them:³⁷ Beholde therfore, I wil gather together all thy louers, vnto whom thou hast made thy self comon: yee & all them whom thou fauourest, and euery one that thou hatest: and will discouer thy shame before the, that they all maye se thy fylthines³⁸ Morouer, I wil iudge the as a breaker of wedlocke and a murthurer, and recompence the thine owne bloude in wrath and gelousy.³⁹ I wil geue the ouer in to their power, that shal breake downe thy stewes, and destroye thy brodel houses: they shal stripe the out of thy clothes, all thy fayre & beutifull Iewels shal they take from the, and so let the syt naked & bare:⁴⁰ Yee they shal bringe the comon people vpon the, which shal stone the, & slaye the downe with their sweardes.⁴¹ They shall burne vp thy houses, and punysh the in the sight of many wome. Thus wil I make thy whordome to ceasse, so that thou shalt geue out no mo rewardes.⁴² Shulde I make my wrath to be still, take my gelousy from the, be content, and nomore to be displeased?⁴³ seinge thou remembrest not the dayes of thy youth, but hast prouoked me to wrath in all these thinges? Beholde therfore, I wil bringe thine owne wayes vpon thine heade, saieth the LORDE God: how be it, I neuer dyd vnto the, acordinge to thy wickednesse and all thy abhominacions.

⁴⁴ Beholde, all they yt vse comon prouerbes, shall vse this prouerbe also agaynst the: Soch a mother, soch a doughter.⁴⁵ Thou art euen thy mothers owne doughter, that hath cast of hir hou?bonde and hir children: Yee thou art the sister of thy sisters, which forsoke their hu?bodes and their children. Youre mother is a Cethite, and youre father an Amorite.⁴⁶ Thine eldest sister is Samaria, she and hir doughters that dwel vpo thy left honde. But thy yongest sister that dwelleth on ye right hode, is Sodoma and hir doughters.⁴⁷ Yet hast thou not walked after their wayes, ner done after their abhominacions: But in all thy wayes thou hast bene more corrupte then they.⁴⁸ As truly as I lyue, saieth the LORDE God: Sodoma thy sister with hir doughters, hath not done so euel, as thou and thy doughters.⁴⁹ Beholde, the synnes of thy sister Sodoma were these: Pryde, fulnesse of meate, abundaunce and Idilnesse: these thinges had she and hir doughters. Besydes that, they reached not their honde to the poore and nedy,⁵⁰ but were proude, and dyd abhominable thinges before me: therfore I toke them awaye, when I had sene it.⁵¹ Nether hath Samaria done half of thy synnes, yee thou hast exceaded them in wickednesse: In so moch that in comparison of all the abhominacions which thou hast done, thou hast made thy sisters good women.⁵² Therfore beare thine owne shame, thou that in synne hast ouercome thy sisters: seinge thou hast done so abhominably, that they were better then thou. Be ashamed therfore (I saye) and beare thine owne confucion, thou that makest thy sisters good women.⁵³ As for their captiuyte, namely the captiuyte of Sodoma and hir dougters: the captiuyte of Samaria and hir doughters: I wil bringe them agayne, so will I also bringe agayne thy captiuyte amoge them:⁵⁴ that thou mayest take thine owne confucion vpon the, and be ashamed of all that thou hast done, and to comforte them.⁵⁵ Thus thy sisters (namely) Sodoma and hir doughters: Samaria and hir doughters with yi self & thy doughters, shalbe brought agayne to youre olde estate.⁵⁶ Whe thou wast in thy pryde,⁵⁷ and before thy wickednesse came to light: thou woldest not heare speake of thy sister Sodoma, vntill the tyme that the Sirians with all their townes, and the Philistynes with all that lye rounde aboute them, brought the to shame and confucion:⁵⁸ that thou mightest beare thine owne fylthynes and abhominacion, saieth the LORDE.⁵⁹ For thus saieth the LORDE God: I shulde (by right) deale with the, as thou hast done. Thou hast despysed the ooth, and broken the couenaunte.

⁶⁰ Neuertheles, I wil remembre the couenaunt, that I made with the in thy youth, in so moch that it shall be an euerlastinge couenaunt:⁶¹ So that thou also remembre thy wayes, and be ashamed of the: then shalt thon receaue of me thy elder and yonger sisters, whom I wil make thy doughters, and that besyde thy couenaunt.⁶² And so I wil renue my couenaunt with the, yt thou mayest knowe, that I am the LORDE:⁶³ that thou mayest thincke vpo it, be ashamed, and excuse thine owne confucion nomore: when I haue forgeuen the, all that thou hast done, saieth the LORDE God.