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¶The .xliiij. Chapter.
5 Christe promiseth to deliuer his Churche, without any her desertes.
[unspec A] 1 SO heare nowe O Ia∣cob my seruaunt, and Israel whom I haue chosen.
2 For thus saith the Lorde that made thee, fassioned thee, and hel∣ped thee euen from thy mothers wombe: Be not afraide O Iacob my seruaunt, thou righteous whom I haue chosen:
3 * 1.1For I shall powre water vpon the drye grounde, and riuers vpon the thir∣stie: * 1.2 I shall powre my spirite vpon thy seede, and my blessing vpon thy stocke:
4 They shall growe together lyke as the grasse, and as the willowes by the waters side.
5 One shal say, I am the Lordes: ano∣ther shall call hym selfe after the name of Iacob: the thirde shall subscribe with his hande vnto the Lorde, and geue hym selfe vnder the name of Is∣rael.
6 Thus hath the Lorde spoken, euen the kyng of Israel, and his redeemer the Lorde of hoastes: * 1.3I am the first and the last, and besides me there is no God.
[unspec B] 7 If any be like me, let hym call foorth the thing past, and openly shewe it, and lay it playne before me, what hath chaunced since I appointed the people of the worlde, and what shalbe shortly, or what shal come to passe [in tyme long to come] let them shewe these thinges?
8 Be not abashed nor afraide: for haue not I euer tolde you hitherto and war∣ned you? ye can beare me recorde your selues: is there any God except me, or any maker, that I should not know hym?
9 All caruers of images are but vayne, and the carued images that they loue can do no good: they must beare re∣corde them selues, that seeing they can neither see nor vnderstande, they shalbe confounded.
10 * 1.4Who dare then make a god, or fashi∣on an image that is profitable for no∣thing?
11 * 1.5Beholde, all the felowship of them must be brought to confusion, & truely all the workemasters of them are men: they shal all be gathered together, they shall stand, tremble, and be confounded one with another.
12 The smith maketh an axe, and tem∣pereth it with hotte coales, and fashio∣neth it with hammers, and worketh it with all the strength of his armes, yea sometime he is fainte for very hunger, and so thirstie that he hath no more power.
13 The carpenter or image caruer ta∣keth measure of the timber, and sprea∣deth foorth his line, he marketh it with some colour, he playneth it, he ruleth it, and squareth it, and maketh it after the image of a man, and according to the beautie of a man, that it may stande in the house.
14 Moreouer, he goeth out to hewe [unspec C] Cedar trees, he bringeth home Elmes and Okes, and taking a bolde courage, he seeketh out the best timber of the wood: he him selfe hath planted a Pine tree, whiche the rayne hath swelled,
15 Which wood serueth for men to burne: Of this he taketh and warmeth hym selfe withall, he maketh a fire of it to bake bread, and maketh also a god ther∣of to honour it, and a grauen image to kneele before it.
16 One peece he burneth in the fire, with another he rosteth fleshe, that he may eate roste his belly full: with the thirde he warmeth him selfe, and saith, Aha, I am well warmed, I haue ben at the fire.
17 And of the residue he maketh hym a god, and grauen image for him selfe: he kneeleth before it, he worshippeth it, he prayeth vnto it, and saith, Deliuer me, for thou art my god.
18 * 1.6Yet men neither consider nor vnder∣stande, because their eyes be stopped that they can not see, and their heartes that they can not perceaue.
19 They ponder not in their mindes, for they haue neither knowledge nor vn∣derstanding to thinke thus: I haue brent one peece in the fire, I haue ba∣ked bread with the coales thereof, I