¶ Let him that ministreth read with a loud voice these Senten∣ces of Scripture, and after them the Exhortation following.
WE lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our Fathers from our youth even unto this day, and have not o∣beyed the voice of the Lord our God.
Correct us, O Lord, but with judg∣ment; not in thine anger: least thou bring us to no∣thing.
DEarly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places, to acknowledge and con∣fess our manifold sins and wickedness, and that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father, but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart, to the end, that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy. And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God, yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together, to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word, and to ask those things which are requi∣site and necessary, as well for the body as the soul.