Vndirnyme thou, biseche thou, and blame thou, in al pacience and doctrine.
THOUȝ these wordis weren writen [werē writē, MS.; but the stroke above is in a later hand, and so elsewhere often, but not always.] bi Seint Poul to Thimothe being a bischop [abischop, MS.; and so elsewhere very often, but not constantly: here the indefinite article is always printed as a word by itself.] and not a lay persoon of the comon peple, ȝit in tho wordis Seint Poul ȝeueth not to Thimothe instruccioun of eny hiȝer gouer|naunce than whiche also he myȝte haue ȝeue to a lay persoon of the comoun peple, bi cause that in tho wordis Poul ȝeueth instruccioun not of correc|cioun (or of correcting bi thretenyng and punyschinge), which longith oonli to the ouerer anentis his neth|erer, and not to the netherer anentis his ouerer; but he ȝeueth instruccioun of correpcioun and of correpting, which not oonli longith to an ouerer anentis his netherer, but also to a netherer anentis his ouerer, as it is open, ije. ad Thessalonic. iije. capitulum. and Math. xviije. capitulum., and as resoun also it weel [weel it, MS. (first hand).] confermeth; so that it be do with honeste and reuerence, and with other therto bi reson dewe circumstauncis. Of which correpcioun first openyng or doing to wite, thanne next blamyng,
