The Byble in Englyshe that is to saye, the content of all the holye scrypture, bothe of the olde and newe Testament, truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke textes, by the diligent studye of dyuers excellent lerned [men e]xperte in the fore[saide] tongues.

¶ Esdias and the woman that appeareth vnto him com∣men together.

CAPI. X.

ANd it happened that when my sonne [unspec A] went into his chamber he fell downe, & dyed: then ouerthrewe we all the lyghtes, & all my neyghbours rose vp to cōforte me. Then toke I my rest vnto the seconde day at night: & whē they had all rested, that they might comforte me / I rested & also rose vp by night, & fled / and am come hyther in to th{is} felde, as thou seyst: & am purposed not to returne into the cyte, but to remayne here, & neither to eate nor dryncke, but continually to mourne and to fast, vntyll I dye.

Then let I my meditacyons & thoughtes fal, that I was in, & spake to her in displea∣sure: Thou most foolysh woman, seist thou not oure heuynes & mournyng / & what hap¦peneth vnto vs? how Syon our mother is all wofull and sory / and howe she is cleane brought downe and in misery? seinge we be all nowe in heuynes, & make oure moue (for we be all sorowful.) As for the heuines that thou takest, it is but for one sōne. Demaūde the earthe, and she shall tel the, that it is she which ought (by reason) to mourne / for the fall of so many that growe vpon her.

For from the begynnyng all men are borne of her, and other shal come: and behold they walke almost al into destruccyon, and many of them shall be roted out. Who shulde then (by reason) make more mournynge / then she, that hath lost so great a multitude? & not thou / which art sory, but for one. But yf thou woldeste saye vnto me: My mour∣nynge is not lyke y^• mournyng of the earth, for I haue lost the frute of my body, whiche I bare with heuines & sorowe: but the earth is accordyng to the maner of the earth, and the present multitude goeth againe into her as it is come to passe: Then say I vnto the: lyke as thou hast borne with trauayle & so∣rowe / euē so the earth also frō the begining geueth her frute vnto man, for hym y^• made her. And therfere withholde thy sorowe and heuynes by thy selfe & loke what hap∣peneth

vnto the, beare it strongly. For yf thou ludgest the marcke and ende of God to be righteous and good, & receauest his coū∣celī tyme, thou shalt be cōmēded therin. Go thy way then into the cyte to thy husbande.

And she sayde vnto me: that wyll I not do / I wyll not go into the cytye, but heare [unspec B] wyl I die. So I commened more with her, and sayde: Do not so, but be counceled / and folowe me, for how many falles hath Stō? Be of good comforte because of the sorowe of Ierusalem. For thou se••st that our San∣ctuary is layed waste / oure aulter broken / oure temple destroyed, oure playenge of in∣strumentes and syngyng layed downe / the thankesgeutnge put to sylence, our myrthis vanyshed awaye / the lyght of oure candel∣stick is quenched, the arcke of the couenaūt is taken from vs / all oure holy thynges are defyled / and the name that is called vpon ouer vs, is dishonoured: our childrē are put to shame, our prestes are brente, oure Leuy∣tes are caryed away into captiuite, oure vir¦gins are defyled, and oure wyues rauished, oure ryghteous men spoyled, and oure chyl¦dren destroyed, oure yong men are brought in bondage / and oure stronge worthyes are become weake: and Syō (which seale is the greatest of all) is lowsed vp from her wor∣shyp for she is delyuered into the handes of them that hate vs.

And therfore shake of thy great heuy∣nes / and put awaye the multytude of so∣rowes: that the Mighty maye be mercy full vnto the, and that the Hyeste maye geue the rest from thy laboure and trauayle. And it happened / that when I was talkynge with her, her face dyd shine and glyster, so that I was afrayed of her, & mused what it myght be. And immediatly she caste oute a greate voyce / very fearful / so that the earth shoke at the noise of the woman: and I loked, and beholde the woman appeared vnto me no∣more but there was a cyte builded, & a place was shewed frō the grounde & foundacion.

Then was I afrayed / and cryed with loude voyce / and sayde: where is Uriel the [unspec C] angell, which came to me at the fyrst? For he hath caused me to come in many conside∣racyons and hye thoughtes, and myne ende is turned to corrupcion, & my prayer to re∣buke. And as I was speakynge these wor∣des, he came vnto me, and loked vpon me, & I laye as one that had bene deed, and myne vnderstanding was altered, and he toke me by the ryght hande, and cōforted me, and set me vpon my fete, and sayde vnto me: what ayleth the? and why is thyne vndestanding vexed? and the vnderstandyng of thy herte, & wherfore art thou sory? And I sayd: Be∣cause thou hast forsakē me: & I haue done accordynge vnto thy wordes / I wente in to the folde, and there haue I sene thinges, that I am not able to expresse. He sayd vn∣to me: Stande vp and be manly / and I shall geue the exortacyon.

Then sayd I: Speake on to me my Lord forsake me not, lest I dye in vayne: for I ha¦ue sene that I knewe not, and herde that I do not knowe. Or shall my vnderstandyng be disceaued / & my minde? But nowe I be∣seche the, that thou wylt shewe thy seruaūte of this wōder. He answered me then & sayd: heare me, and I shall enfourme the, and tel the wherfore thou art afrayed / for the hyest hath opened many secrete thīges vnto the.

He hath sene that thy waye is ryght, and that thou takest sorowe continually for thy people, and makest greate lamentacyon for Sion: and therfore vnderstande the visyon whiche thou sawest a lytle whyle ago after thys maner: Thou sawest a woman mour∣ninge, and thou hast comforted her. Neuer∣theles now seyst thou the lykenes of the wo¦mā nomore, but thou thoughtest there was a cyte buylded: and lyke as she tolde the of y^• fal of her sonne, so is this the answere: The woman whom thou saweste / is Syon / and where as she tolde the / that she hathe bene thyrtye yeares vnfrutefull and baren, those are the. xxx. yeares, wherin there was no of∣ferynge made in her.

But after. xxx. yeares Salomon buylded [unspec D] her / & offred / & then bare the baren a sonne. And where as she tolde y^•: that she noryshed hym with laboure, that was the dwellyng of Ierusalem. But where as she tolde the y^• her sōue dyed whan he came into his cham∣ber, that is the fall of Ierusalem. And thou sawest her lykenesse / howe she mourned for her sōne: and what els happened vnto her / I haue shewed y^•. And now God seyth / that thou arte sory in thy mynde / & suffrest from thy herte for her, & so hath he shewed the her clearnesse, and the fayrnes of her bewtye.

And therfore I bad the remayne in y^• felde where no house is builded. For I knew that the Hyest wolde shewe thys vnto the / ther∣fore I commaunded the to go into the felde / where no foundacyon of buyldynge is. For in the place where the Hyest wyll shewe his cytie, there shal be no mans buyldyng. And therfore feare not / and let not thyne herte be afrayed / but go thy waye in, and se the

glorious and fayre buyldynge, and howe greate it is, and howe greate thou thynkest it after the measure of thyne eyes, and then shalte thou heare as muche as thyne eares maye comprehende. For thou art blessed a∣boue many other, and arte called with the Hyest, as the fewe. But to morowe at nyght thou shalt remayne here, & so shall the Hyest shewe the vysiōs of hye thynges, whyche he wyll do vnto them, that dwell vpon earth in the last dayes. So I slepte y^• same nyght and the other lyke as he commaunded me.

Notes

• Hebr. xii. a.
• 4. Esd 4. a
• 4. Es••. ••▪