And albeit they were bounde to me in ma∣ryage, yet they fall to aduoutrye, and haunt harlottes houses.
In the desyre of vnclenly lust they are be come lyke the stoned horse, euery man ney¦eth at his neyghboures wyfe: Shulde I not correcte this, sayeth the Lorde.
Shulde I not be auenged of euery peo∣ple, that is lyke vnto this? Clyme vp vpon theyr walles, beate them downe, but destroy them not vtterly, cut of theyr braunches, be cause they are not the Lordes. For vnfayth∣fully hath the house of Israel and Iuda for saken me, sayeth the Lorde. They haue de¦nyed the Lorde, & sayde: it is not he. Tush, there shall no misfortune come vpon vs, we shall se neyther swerde nor hongre. As for the warnyng of the Prophetes, they take it but for wynde, yea, there is none of these whiche wyll tell them, that suche thynges shall happen vnto them.
Wherfore, thus sayeth the Lorde God of [unspec D] Hostes: because ye speake suche wordes, be∣holde: The wordes that are in thy mouth wyl I turne to fyre, and make the people to be wood, that it may consume them.
Lo, I wyll brynge a people vpon you from farre, O house of Israell (sayeth the Lorde (a myghtye people, an olde people, a people whose speache thou knowest not / nether vnderstandest what they say. Theyr arrowes are sodayne deathe, yea / they them¦selues be very grauntes. This people shall eate vp thy fruyte and thy meate, yea, they shall deuoure thy sōnes and thy daughters thy shepe and thy bullockes.
They shall eate vp thy grapes and fyg∣ges. As for thy stronge & well tensed cyties / wherin thou dydest trust, they shall destroye them with the swerde. Neuertheles I wyl not then haue done wt you, sayeth the Lord, But yf they saye: wherfore dothe the Lorde oure God all thys vnto vs.
Then answere them: because, that lyke [unspec D] as ye haue forsaken me, and serued straūge Goddes in your owne lande, euen so shal ye serue other Goddes also in a straunge lāde. Preache this vnto the house of Iacob, and crye it out in Iuda, and saye thus: Heare this (thou folyshe and vndiscrete people) ye haue eyes, but ye se not: eares haue ye / but ye heare not.
Feare ye not me / sayeth the Lorde? Are ye not ashamed, to loke me in the face? which bynde the see with the sande, so that it cānot passe his boundes: For thoughe it rage, yet can it do nothynge, and thoughe the waues thereof do swell, yet maye they not go ouer.
But this people hath a false and an ob∣stinate [unspec F] herte / they are departed and gone a∣waye fro me. They thynke not in theyr her∣tes: O let vs feare the Lorde our God / that geueth vs raygne early and late / when nede is: whiche kepeth euer styll the harueste for vs yerely.
Neuertheles, your misdedes haue turned these frome you, and your synnes haue rob∣bed you hereof. For amonge my people are founde wycked personnes, that preuely lay snares and wayte for men, to take them and destroye them. And lyke as a net is full of byrdes, so are theyr houses ful of that which [unspec G] they haue gotten with falshed and disceate. Hereof commeth theyr great substaūce and ryches, hereof are they fat and welthy, and are runne away fro me with shameful blas∣phemyes. They minystre not the lawe / they make no ende of y• fatherles cause, they iudge not the poore accordyng to equite.
Shuld I not punish these thinges, say∣eth the Lorde? shulde I not be auenged of all suche people as these be? Horrible & gre∣uous thinges are done in the lande.
The Prophetes teache falsely / and the prestes folowe them, and my people hathe pleasure therin. What wyll come therof at the laste.