seest cōmeth not but for to steale, to sleine, & to destroy. And Zachary the prophet sayth, that thou wouldest reren vp a shepherde vnkunning, that ne wol not hele thy shepe that * Marginalia* Beth, that is, bee. beth sick, ne seek thilke that beth lost. Apon his arme is a swerd, and vpon his right eye: his arme shall waxe dry, and his right eye shall lese his light. O Lorde, helpe, for thy shepe beth at great mischiefe in the shepheards defaute.

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MarginaliaAgainst hirelings. But Lord, ther commeth hired men, & they ne fedden not thy shepe in thy plenteous lesew,  

but feeden thy sheep with * Marginalia* Sweuens,  

Commentary     Close

i.e. 'dreams'.

that is dreames.sweuēs and false miracles & tales. But at thy trewth they ne comen not, For Lord, I trowe thou sendest them neuer. For haue they hire of thy sheep they ne careth but little of the feding and the keping of thy shepe, Lord of these hired men speaketh Ieremy the Prophet, and thou seyst that woorde by him: I ne sende them not, and they ronne * Marginalia* Bliue, quickly.bliue   : I ne speake vnto them, and they propheciden. For if they hadden stonden in my coūsel, and they had made my words knowē to the puple, ich wold haue turned them away from their yuell way and from their wicked thoughtes. For Lorde, thou seyst that thy wordes ben as fire, and as an hammer breaking stones. And Lord, thou saist: Lo, I to these Prophetes meeting sweuens of lesing, that haue ytolde her sweuens, and haue begyled my my puple in their lesing & in the fals miracles, when I neither sent ne bede them. And these haue profitet nothing to my puple. And as Ieremie sayth, from the lest to the * Marginalia* Meste, most.mest all they studien couetise, and from the Prophet to the priest, all they done gyle.

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A Lord, here is mych mischief & matere of sorow, & yet there is more. MarginaliaPopish priests neither teach themselues, nor wyl suffer other beside theēselues to teach. For gif a lewed man wold teach thy people trewth of thy words as he is y holde by the commaundement of charite, he shal be forboden and put in prison gif he do it. And so Lord, thilk that haue the key of conning, haue y lockt the trewth of thy teaching vnder many wardes, & yhid it from thy children. But Lorde, sith thy teaching is y come from heauen aboue, our hope is, that with thy grace it shall breaken these wardes, and showe hym to thy puple, to kele both the hunger and the thrust of the soule. And then shal no shepheard, ner no fals hiridman begile thy puple no more. For by thy law I wryte, as thou * Marginalia* I hightest, promised.hightest  

some time, that from the lest to the mest, all they shullen knowen thy wil, and * Marginalia* Weten  

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i.e. 'know'.

, know.weten howe they shullen please thee euer more in certaine.

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And leue Lord, gif it be thy will helpe at thys nede, for there is none helpe but in thee. Thus Lord, by him that maketh himselfe thy viker in earth, is thy commaundement of loue to thee & our brethren ybroken, both to him and to thy puple But Lorde God, mercy and pacience that beth * Marginalia* Tweyne, that is, two. tweyne of thy commandements, beth destroyed, and thy puple hath forsake mercy. For Lord, Dauid in the Sauter  

sayth: Blessed beth they that done dome and rightfulnes in euerich time.

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O Lord, thou hast itaught vs as rightfulnes of heauen, & hast ybeden vs forgeuen our brethren as oft as they trespassen against vs. And Lord, thine olde lawe of iustice was, that such harme as a man did his brother, such he should suffer by the law, as eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth But Christ made an end of this law, that one brother should not desire wracke of an other: but not that he would that sinne shoulde be vnpunished, for thereto hath he ordained Kinges and Dukes and other lewde officers vnder them, whilke as S. Paule sayth, ne carien not the swerd in vaine, for they ben the ministers of God, and wrakers to wrath, to them that euil done. And thus hath Christ ymade an ende of this olde lawe, that one brother may not suen an other himselfe, * Marginalia* For that, i, but. for that to wreken without sinne, for breaking of charity. But this charity Lord hath thy vicar ybroke, and says that we sinnen, but gif we suen for our right. And we se I wote that thou taughtest vs sometime to geue our mantell also, euer that we shoulden suen for out coate. And so Lord beleuē we, that we ben ybounden to don by the law, that is all charitye, & officers duty is to defenden vs from thilke theuery though we cōplainen not. But lord, thy law is turned vpsedown.

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MarginaliaHe complaineth for punishing litle faults, and to let great faultes escape. A Lord, what dome  

is it to sleane a theefe that take a mās catell away from hym, and suffren a spousebreaker to liue, and a lecherour that killeth a womans soule? And yet thy lawe stoned the spousebreakers and leachours, and let the theeues liuen and haue other punishment.

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A Lord, what dome is it to sleane a thefe for stealing of a hors, and to let him liue vnpunished, & to maintaine him that robbeth thy poore people of their liuelod, and the soule of his foode?.

MarginaliaIf he be an heretike that breaketh mans lawe what is the P. that breaketh Gods lawe. Lorde, it was neuer thy dome to sayen, that a man is an heretike and cursed for breaking of mans lawe, and demen hym for a good man for breaking thine hestes.

MarginaliaA leud mā, that is, a lay man. Lord, what dome  

is it to curse a lewd man if he smite a priest, and not curse a priest that smiteth a lewed man,   and leeseth hys charitie.

Lord, what dome is it to curse the lewd people for tythings, and not curse the parson that robbeth the people of tythings, and teacheth them not Gods lawe, but feedeth them with painting of stone walles, and songs of Latin that the people knowen not?

Lord, what dome  

is it to punish the poore mā for his trespas, and suffer the rich to continue in his sin for a quantity of mony?

Lord, what dome  

is it to slaine an vncunning lewed man for his sinne, and suffer a priest, other a clerke that doth the same sin,scape a liue? Lord the sinne of the priest or of the cleark is greater trespasse then it is of a lewd vncunning man, and greater ensample of wickednes to the common people.

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Lord, what maner people be we, that neither keep they domes  

and thy rightfulnes of the old testament that was a law of drede, nor thy domes   and thy rightfulnes of thy new testament that is a law of loue and of mercy: but haue an other law, and taken out of both thy lawes that is liking to vs, and remnaunt of heathen mennes lawes, and Lord this is a great mischiefe.MarginaliaAgainst the canon law.

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O Lord thou sayest in thy law, deme ye not and ye should not be demed:  

for the same mesure that ye meten to other men, men shall meten to you againeward. And Lord thou sayst that by their worke we should know them. And by what we knowe that thou commaunded vs not to demen mens thoughts, nor their workes that were not agaynst thy law expresly. MarginaliaThe popes law against Gods lawe, in causing men to accuse themselues. And yet Lord he that saith he is thy vicar, will demen   our thoughtes and aske vs what we thinke: not of the Lord, of thy hestes, for they caren little for them but of him and of his whilke they sate aboue thine, and make vs accusen our selfe, or els they willen accursen vs, for our accusers mowen   we not knowne. MarginaliaMowē, that is, may.And Lord thou sayest in thyne olde law, that vnder two witnes at the least or three, shoulde stand euery matter. And that the witnes shoulden euer be the first that shoulden helpe to kill them.

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And when the schribes and the Pharises some tymes brought before thee a woman that was itake in spouse breaking,  

and exeden of the a dome   , thou didst write on the earth, and then thou gaue this dom   : He that is without sinne: throw first at her a stone, and Lord they went forth away from thee and the woman: & thou forgaue the woman her trespasse, and bad her go forth and sinne no more.MarginaliaTooke kept, that is, tooke heede.

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Sweete Lord, if the priestes tooke keepe  

to thy dome   , they would be agast to demen   men as they done. O Lord if one of them breake a commaundement of thy law, he will axe mercy of thee, and not a peine that is due for the sinne, for peyne of death were to little. O Lord, how daren they demen   any man to the death for breaking of theyr lawes, other assent to such law? for breaking of thy law they will set penaunce or pardon them, and mayntayne them as oft as they trespassen. MarginaliaThe breakyng of the popes lawe more punished, then the breaking of Gods law But Lorde, if a man ones breake theyr lawes or speake agaynst them, he may done penaunce but ones, and after be burnt. Trulych Lord thou sayst, but if euery of vs forgeue other his trespasse, thy father will not forgeuen vs our sinnes. And Lord when thou honge on the crosse, thou prayedst to thy father to haue mercy on thine enemies.

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And yet the sain Lord, that they demen  

no man to the death, for the sain they ne mowen   by their law demen   any man to the death. A leeue Lord, euen so saden theyr forefathers the phariseis, that it ne was not lawfull for them to kill any man. And yet they bidden Pilate to done thee to the death agaynst his owne conscience, for he wold gladly haue iquitte thee, but for that they threatened him with the Emperour, and broughten agaynst thee false witnesse also. And he was an heathen man.

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¶ O Lord, how much truer dome  

was there in Pilate that was an heathen iustice, then in our kinges and iustices that woulden demen to the death and berne in the fire him: that the Priests deliueren vnto them withouten witnes or prefe? For Pilate ne would not demen   thee: MarginaliaFor to, that that is, therefore. for that the Phariseis sayden that gif thou ne had dest not bene a misdoer we ne would not deliuer him vnto thee: for to, they broughten in theyr false witnesse agaynst thee. But Lord, as thou saydest sometime that it should ben lighter at domes day to Tyro and to Sydon and Gomorra, than to the cities where thou wrought wonders and miracles: so I dred, it shall be more light to Pilate in the dome   , MarginaliaPilate more commended then the pope.then to our kinges and domes men that so demen without witnesse and prefe. For Lord to demen thy folke for heretickes: is to holden thee a hereticke: and to brennē   them, is to brennen thee, for thou saydest to Paule when he persecuted thy people: Saule, Saule, wherefore persecutest thou me, & in the dome thou shalt say, that ye haue done to the lest of mine ye haue done to me.

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Thus Lord, is thy mercy & iustice foredone by him that sayth he is thy vicar in earth: for he neither keepeth it himselfe nor nill not suffer other to do it.

¶ The third commaundement, that is patience and sufferance is also ibroken by this vicar. MarginaliaThe Pope breaketh patience. Lord thou biddest sufferen both wrōges and strokes withouten againstanding, and so thou diddest thy selfe to geuen vs ensample to sufferen of our brethren. For suffering nourisheth loue, and agaynstandeth debate. All thy lawes is loue, or els the thing that draweth to loue.

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¶ But Lord, men teachen, that men shoulden pleten  

for their right and fighten also therefore, and els they seyn, men ben in perill: and thou bid in the old law men fight for theyr countrey. And thy selfe haddest two swordes in thy company when thou shouldest go to thy passion, that as these clerkes seyn, betokeneth a spiritual sword and a temporall sworde, that thou gaue to thy vicar to rule with, thy church.

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Lord this is a sleight  

speech, but Lord we beleuē that thou art king of blisse, and that is thine heritage and mankindes countrey and in this worlde wee ne bene but straungers and pilgrimes.