Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse

The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.

to pore men þat han most nede. But þes prestis schulden sue crist in manere of lif & trewe techynge; but crist lefte sich occupacion, and his apostlis also, & weren betre occupied in [Acts vi. [2].] holy preiere & trewe techynge of þe gospel; & þis determi|nacion & ful sentence was ȝouen of alle þe apostlis to-gidre whanne þei hadden resceyued þe plenteuous ȝiftis of þe holy gost. Lord! where þes worldly prestis ben wisere þan ben alle þe apostlis of crist? it semeth þat þei ben or ellis 1þei ben1 [1_1 omitted X.] fooles. also crist wolde not take þe kyngdom whan þe puple wolde haue maad him kyng, as iones gospel telleþ; but if it [John vi. [15].] haade be a prestis [apostlis AA.] office to dele aboute þus bodily [bodi X.] almes, Crist þat coude best haue do þis office wolde haue take þes temperal goodis to dele hem among poeuere men; but he wolde not do þus, but fley and took no man of þe aposteles wiþ him, so faste he hiede. lord, where worldly prestis kunnen bettere don þis partinge of worldly goodis þan [of X.] ihū crist? And ȝif þei seyn þat crist fedde þe puple in desert with bodily almes manye þousand, as þe gospel saiþ; þat dide crist by miracle to shewe his godhede and to teche prestes houȝ þei schulden fede gostly cristene men by goddis word; for so dide cristis aposteles and hadde not where-of to do bodily almes, whan þei miȝten haue had tresour and iuelis y-nowe of kynggis & lordis. Also peter saiþ in dedis of [Acts iii. 6.] apostlis to a pore man þat to him neiþer was gold ne siluer, and ȝit he performede wel þe office of a trewe prest; but oure prestis ben so bysye aboute worldly occupacioun þat þei semen bettere bailyues or reues þan gostly prestis of ihū crist. For what man is so bysy aboute marchaundise and oþere worldly doyngis as ben preostes, þat shulden ben lyȝt of heuenly lif to alle men abouten hem? but certes þei shulde be as bysy aboute studyinge of goddys lawe and holy preyer, not of famulorum but of holy desires and clene meditacioun of god, and trewe techinge of þe gospel, as ben laboreris aboute worldly labour for here sustenaunce; and muche more bysie
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Title
The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew.
Author
Wycliffe, John, d. 1384.
Canvas
Page 195
Publication
London,: Pub. for the Early English text society, by Trübner & co.,
1880.

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"The English works of Wyclif hitherto unprinted.Edited by F. D. Matthew." In the digital collection Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/aeh6713.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 10, 2025.
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