Page xix
¶The .ix. Chapter.
6 All thinges in this worlde haue a beginning and an ende. •• Tormented for the wicked after this lyfe. 1•• The number of the wicked is more then of the good. •• The Iewes ingratitude. •• Therefore they perishe. 35 The vision of a woman lamenting.
[unspec A] 1 HE aunswered me then and sayde, Measure thou the time diligent∣lye in it self: and when thou seest that one part of the tokens come to passe whiche I haue tolde thee before,
2 Then shalt thou vnderstande that it is the very same tyme wherin the high∣est wyll begin to visite the world which he made.
3 Therefore when there shalbe seene an earthquake and vprore of the peo∣ple in the worlde,
4 Then shalt thou well vnderstande that the moste highest spake of those thinges from the dayes that were be∣fore thee, euen from the beginning.
5 For lyke as all that is made in the worlde, hath a beginning and ende, and the ende is manifest:
6 Euen so the tymes also of the highest haue playne beginninges in wonders and signes, and ende in “ 1.1 working and in tokens.
[unspec B] 7 And euery one that shalbe saued, and shalbe able to escape by his workes and by fayth wherein ye haue beleued,
8 Shalbe preserued from the sayde pe∣rils, and shall see my “ 1.2 sauiour in my lande, and within my borders: for I haue halowed “ 1.3 me from the worlde.
9 Then shall they pitie them selues, whiche nowe haue abused my wayes: and they that haue cast them out dispite∣fully, shall dwell in paynes.
10 For suche as in their life haue recea∣ued benefites, and haue not knowen me:
11 And they that haue abhorred my lawe whyle they had yet * 1.4 freedome, and when they had yet open leysure of amendement and conuertion, vnder∣stoode not, but despised it:
12 The same must knowe it after death in payne.
13 And therefore be thou no more * 1.5 care∣full howe the vngodly shalbe punished: but inquire howe the righteous shalbe saued, and whose the worlde is, and for whom the worlde is, and when [it is.]
14 Then aunswered I, and sayde:
15 * 1.6I haue sayde before, and nowe I [unspec C] speake, and wyl speake it also hereafter: that there be many mo of them whiche perishe, then of them whiche shalbe saued:
16 Like as the flud is greater then a drop.
17 And he aunswered me, saying: Like as the fielde is, so is also the seede: as the floures be, so are the colours also: suche as the workeman is, suche is also the worke: and as the husbandman is hym selfe, so is his husbandry also: for it was the tyme of the worlde.
18 And when I prepared for them that are nowe, or euer the world was made wherein they shoulde dwell: then was there no man that spake against me.
19 For then euery one [obayed] but nowe the maners of them which are created in this worlde that is made, are corrup∣ted by a perpetuall seede, and by a lawe whereout they can not rid them selues.
20 So I considered the worlde, and be∣holde there was perill because of the “ 1.7 thoughtes that were come into it.
21 And I saw, and spared them greatly, [unspec D] and haue kept me a “ 1.8 wineberie of grapes, and a plant of a great people.
22 Let the multitude perishe then which are growen vp in vayne, and let my grape [and wineberie] be kept and my plant: for with great labour haue I made it vp.
23 Neuerthelesse, if thou wylt ceasse yet seuen dayes mo, but thou shalt not fast in them:
24 Go thy way thē into a fielde of floures, where no house is buylded, & eate only of the floures of the fielde, taste no flesh, drinke no wine, but eate floures only.
25 And pray vnto the highest continually, so wyll I come and talke with thee.
26 So I went my way, and came into the fielde whiche is called Ardath, like as he commaunded me, and there I sate among the floures, and did eate of the hearbes of the fielde, and the meate of the same satisfied me.
27 After seuen dayes, I sate vpon the grasse, and my heart was vexed within me like as before.