The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments, with the Apocryphal books,

CAP. IV.

Forsothe hooly homelynesse in byleeue profitith to him silf aloone; and as myche as he edifieth of [thorouȝ F.] disseruyng of good lijf the chirche of Crist, so myche he noieth if he withstonde not the distrieres ther of. Malechie the profete, and also the Lord bi Malechie, askith the prestis the lawe; in so myche that the office of the prest is, whanne he is askid, to answere of the lawe of God. And in Deutronomye we reden, "aske thi fadir, and he shal tell thee; and aske thi prestis, and thei shulen seie to thee." Also in the hundryd and xviij. [the eiȝtenthe F.] salm Dauith seith, "thi iustifyngis weren ioyful to [eithir chauntable to X marg. sec.m.] me in the place of my pilgrymage." And in the discriuynge of the riȝtwise man, whanne Dauith liknede him to the tre of lijf that is in paradijs, among othere vertues thus he seide, "the wil of him is in the lawe of the Lord, and he shal thenke in his lawe day and nyȝt." Danyel in the ende of a ful hooly vysioun seith, that "riȝtwise men shulen shyne as sterris, and wise lerned men as the firmament." Thou seest how moche riȝt wise homelynesse and wyse riȝtwisnes dyuersen `bitwene hem silf [Om. FX.] . The first of hem ben likned to sterris, and the [Om. F.] othere to heuene; al be it that, aftir the [Om. F.] treuthe of Ebrew tunge, eithir of hem moun be vndurstonde of lerned men. For thus we reden anentis hem, "forsothe thilke that ben wise lerned men shulen shyne as the bryȝtnesse of the firmament, and thilke that techen many men to riȝtwisnesse shulen shyne as sterrus in perpetuel euerlastyngnessis." Whi is Poul the apostle seid the vessel of eleccioun? sothely for he was the vessel of lawe, and the almarie of hooly scriptures. The Farissees ben [weren FX.] astonyed, `or merveilen [Om. FX.] , in the doctrine of the Lord, and wondryden in Petir and Joon, hou they kouden the lawe, sithen thei lern|eden no [not X.] lettris. For the Hooly Goost telde hem al, that euer excercise in studie, and euery dayes thenkyng in the lawe of God, was wont to ȝyue to othere men, as it is writun, "and [Om. FX.] thei weren dis|ciplis of God able to be tauȝt [tauȝt as it is writun O.] ." Oure [Whenne oure FX.] Sauyour hadde fulfillid xij. ȝeer of his age, and [Om. FX.] thanne he, sittynge in the temple, and [Om. O sec.m.] askynge of questiouns

of the lawe, he techith myche the [Om. O sec. m.] more while he askith wisely questiouns. But perauenture we seien Petre to be lewide, and Joon to be lewide, of whiche euere eithir myȝte seie, "thouȝ I be vnwiys in word, netheles not in kunnyng." Joon was a lewde fishere, and [Om. O sec. m.] vntauȝt in scolys; and fro whennus, I preie, cam that vois, "In the bygynnyng was the [Om. FX.] word, and this word was anentis God, and God was this same word?" This word logos in Grew bitokeneth many thingis, for it is word, and re|soun, and noumbre, and cause of euery thing, by the which alle thingis ben, that han beyng; the [Om. F.] which ech oon we vndirstonden riȝtfuli in [of FX.] Crist.