¶ A proper agaynste pryde▪ ••echery, and glotony Of othrs, blasph••my, and of wyse communicacion. Of the thre ky••∣des of s••••nes. M••hy synnes proceade of abuou••ry. Of the feare of God.
CAPI. XXIII.
O Lorde / father and gouernoure of my [unspec A] lyfe / leaue me not in theyr y magyna∣cyon and councell. Oh let me not fal in such reprofe. Who wyll kepe my thought with the scourge / and the doctryne of wysdome in myne herte? that he spare not myne igno∣raunce / that I fall not wyth them, lest mine ignoraunces increase / that myne offences be not many in nombre / and that my sinnes exceade not: leste I fall before myne ene∣myes, and so my aduersary reioyce: O Lord thou father and God of my lyfe / leaue me not in theyr ymaginacyō. O let me not haue a proude loke, but turne awaye all ••olupte ousnes fro me. Take fro me the lustes of the body / let not the desyres of vnclennes take holde vpō me, and geue me not ouer into an vnshamefast and obstynate mynde. [unspec B]
Heare me (O ye chyldren.) I wyll geue you a doctrine, howe ye shall ordre your mouthe: who so kepeth it, shal not perish thorow his lippes, nor be hurt thorow wicked worckes As for the synner / he shall be taken in hys owne vanyte: he that is proude and cursed, shal fal therin. * 1.1 Let not thy mouth be acu∣stomed wt swearynge / for in it there are ma∣ny falles. Let not the naming of God be cō∣tynually ithy mouth: (and medle not wt the names of saintes / for yu shalt not be excused of thē) for lyke as a seruaūt which is oft pu∣nished cannot be without some fore / euen so whatsoeuer he be y• sweare•••• & nameth god shall not be clene pourged frō sinne, A man y• vseth much swearing, shalbe filled wt wic kednes / & the plage shall neuer go from his house. If he begyle hys brother / hys faure shalbe vpon hym: yf he knowledge not hys sine, he maketh a doble offēre, & if he sweare in vayne / he shall not be founde ryghteous for his house shall be full of plages▪
* 1.2 The wordes of y• swearer bryngeth death [unspec C] (God graunte that it be not founde in the house of Iacob.) But they that feare God / eschue all such, & lye not weltryng in synne.
* 1.3 Use not thy mouth to vnhoneste and fyl∣thy talkynge, for in it is the worde of synne. Remembre thy father and thy mother / whē thou art set among great men: lest God for∣get the in theyr syght / and lest thou dotyng in thy custome, suffre rebuke / and wyshe not to haue bene borne, & so curse y• daye of thy naryuite. * 1.4 The man ye is accustomed wt the wordes of blasphemy, wyll neuer be refour¦med all y• dayes of his lyfe. To synne twyse is to much, but the thyrde bringeth wrath & destruccion. An hote stomack cannot be quē¦ched (euen lyke a burnynge fyre) tyll it haue swalowed vp somthing: euen so an vnchast man hath no reste in hys fleshe, tyll he haue kyndled a fyre.
All bred is swete to an whoremonger, he wyll not leaue of / tyll he haue hys purpose. A mā that breaketh wedlock▪ and regardeth [unspec D] not hys soule but sayeth: * 1.5 Tush, who seyth me? I am compassed about with barcknes / the walles couer me, nobody seyth me: whō nede I to feare? The Hyest wyl not remem∣bre my synnes. He vnderstandeth not y• hys eyes se all thynges / for all such feare of men dryueth awaye the feare of God from hym:for he feareth onely the eies of men, and con¦sydereth not that the eyes of the Lorde are much clearer thē the Sūne, beholdig al the wayes of men and the grounde of the depe, and lokynge euen to mens hertes in secrete places. The Lorde God knewe all thynges or euer they were made / and after they be brought to passe also he loketh vpon thē al. * 1.6 The same man shalbe openly punished in the stretes of y• cyte: & shalbe chased abrode lyke a yonge horse foale: and when he thin∣keth lest vpō it, he shalbe taken. Thus shal he be put to shame of euery man, because he wolde not vnderstāde the feare of the Lord-And thus shall it go also with euery wyfe / that leaueth her housbande / and getteth en∣herytaūce by a straūge mariage. * 1.7 First, she hath bene vnfaythfull vnto the lawe of the Hyeste: Secondly / she hathe forsaken her owne housbande. Thyrdly, she hath played the whore in aduoutry, and gotten her chyl¦dren by another man. She shall be brought out of the congregacyon / and her chyldren shall be loked vpon Her chyldren shall not