For thou Lord ne art of this world, ne thy law nether ne thy true seruauntes that kepen thy law. And Lord, thou were king of Iuda by enheritage if thou wouldest haue ihad it, but thou forsooke it and pletedest not therfore, ne fought not therfore.

¶ But Lord, for thy kinde heretage and mankindes countrey, that is a lande of blisse, thou foughtest mightilich: In battaile thou ouercame thy enemie, & so thou wonne thine heretage. For thou that were a Lord mightiest in battail, and also Lord of vertues, are rightfullich king of blisse, as Dauid saith in the Psalter. But Lorde, thine enemie smote the dispitefullich, and had power of thee and hang thee vpō the crosse as thou haddest ben a thefe, & benomyn thee all thy clothes, and sticked thee to the hart with a spere.

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¶ O Lord, this was an hard assault of a battaile, and here thou ouercome by paciēce mightilich thine enemies, for thou ne woldest not done against the will of thy father. And thus Lorde thou taughtest thy seruants to fight for their countrey. And Lorde this fighting was in figure itaught in the old law But Lord men holdē now the shadow of the old fighting & leuen the light of thy fighting, that thou taughtest openlych both in word and in deede.

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¶ Lord thou gaue vs a sword to fighten against our enemis for our conntrey, that was thine holy teaching, & christen mens law. But Lorde thy sworde is put in a shethe and in priests warde, that haue forsake the fighting that thou taughtest. For as they seyn it is against their order to ben mē of armes in thy battail, for it is vnsemelich, as they seyn, that thy vicar in erth, other hys priests shulden suffer of other mē. And therfore gif any man smite him, other any of his clerkes, hee ne taketh it not in pacience, but anon he smiteth with his sworde of cursing, and afterward with his bodylich sworde, he doth them to death. MarginaliaChristes vicare and his priestes will suffer nothing. O Lord, me thinketh that this is a fighting against kinde, and much against thy teaching.

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O Lorde whether axsedest thou after swerdes in time of thy passion to again stond thine enemies? nay forsooth thou Lorde. For Peter that smote for great loue of thee, had no great thanke of thee, for his smiting. And Lorde thou were mighty ynough to haue againe stonde thine ennemies, for through thy looking they fellen downe to the ground, Lorde iblessed mote thou be. Heere thou teachest vs that we shoulden suffren: For thou were mighty ynow to haue agaynstand thine ennemies, and thou haddest wepen, and thy men weren harty to haue smitten.

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O sweet Lord, how may he for shame clepen  

himselfe thy Viker and head of the Church, that may not for shame suffer? Sithe thou art a Lord: and sufferedst of thy subiectes, to geuen vs ensāple: and so did thy true servauntes.

MarginaliaNo temporall sword geuen to Peter. O Lord: whether geue thou to Peter a spirituall sworde to curse & a temporal swerd to sle mens bodies? Lord I trow not for thē Peter that loued thee so much, wold haue smitwith thy swerds: But Lord, he taught vs to blessen them that cursen vs, and suffren and not smiten. And Lord he fed thy people as thou bed him, and therefore he suffered the death as thou didst.

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O Lord, why clepeth  

any man him Peters successor that hath forsaken patience, and feedth thy people with cursing and wyth smiting? Lord thou saydest in thy Gospell, when thy disciples knewen well that thou were Christ, and that thou mustest goe to Ierusalem, and sufferen of the Scribes and Pharises, spittinges, reprofes, and also the death. And Peter tooke thee aside, and sayd God forbid that. And Lord thou saydst to Peter, goe behinde me Sathanas, thou sclaunderest me in Israell. For thou ne sauorest not thilke thinges that ben of God, but thilke that ben of men. MarginaliaThilk things those things. Lord to mens wyt it is vnreasonable, that thou or thy Vicar, gif thou madest any on earth, shoulden suffren of your suggets.

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MarginaliaFaith commeth not by outward force. A Lord, whether thou ordeynest an order of fighters to turne men to the beliefe? Other ordeinest that knightes shoulden swear to fighte for thy wordes?

A Lord, whether bede thou, that gif a man turne to the fayth, that he should gueue his goodes and cattell to the Vicar that hath great Lordships, and more then him needeth? Lord I wot wel that in the beginning of the church men that weren cōuerted, threwen adowne theyr goodes before the Apostles feete. For all they weren in charitie, and none of them sayd thus is myne, ne Peter made himselfe no Lord of these goodes.

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MarginaliaPope breaketh the rule of charitie, of mercy and of patience. But Lord, now he that clepeth  

himselfe thy Vicar vpon earth, and successor to Peter, hath ybroke thy commaundement of charitie, for he is become a Lord. And he hath also broken thy commandement of mercy, and also of patience. Thus Lord we be fallen into great mischiefe and thraldome, for our chiefetayne hath forsaken war and armes, and haue treated to haue peach with our enemies.

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A Lord, gif it be thy will draw out thy swerd out of his sheth that thy seruauntes may fight therewith agaynst their enemies, & put cowardise out of our hartes. And comfort vs in battaile, or than Marginalia  

Or then, before that. thou come with thy sword in thy mouth, to take vengeance on thine enemies For gif we bene accorded with our enemies til that time come, it is dread least thou take vengeaunce both of thē and of vs together. A Lord, there is no helpe nowe in this great mischiefe, but onely in thee.

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MarginaliaThe P. breaketh the law of swearing. Lord, thou geuest vs a commaundement of truth, in bidding vs say, yea, yea, nay, nay, and sweare for nothing. Thou geue vs alsoa maundement of meekenes, and an other of poorenes, But Lord he that clepeth  

himself thy Vicar on earth, hath both ybrokē these commaundements, for he maketh a law to compell men to sweare and by lawes he teacheth that a man to saue his life, may forsweare and lye And so Lord, through cōfort of him and his lawes, the people ne dreadeth not to sweare and to lye, ne oft times to forswearen them. Lord here is little truth.

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O Lord, thou hast ybrought vs to a liuing of soules that standes in beleeuing in thee, & keeping thy hestes, and when we breaken thine hestes, than we slen our soule. And lesse harme it were to suffer bodylich death.

Lord, king Saule brake thine hestes  

, and thou tooke his kingdome from his heyres euermore after him, and gaue it to Dauid thy seruaunt, that kept thine hestes. And thou saydst by Samuell thy prophat to Saule king, that it is a mannour of worshipping of false Gods to breake thy hestes   . For who that loueth thee ouer all thinges, and dreadeth thee also: he nole   MarginaliaNole, i. would not. for nothing breake thyne hestes.

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O Lord, gif breaking of thine hestes be heryeng of false gods, I trow that he maketh the people breake thyne hestes, and commaundeth that his hestes ben kept of the people, maketh himselfe a false GOD on earth: as Nabuchodonosor did some tyme: that was king of Babilon.

But Lord, we forsaken such false Gods, and beleuen that ther ne ben no mo Gods then thou And though thou suffer vs a while to bene in disease for knowledging of thee: we thanken thee wyth our hart, for it is a token thar thou louest vs, to geuen vs in thys world some penaunce for our trespas.

Lord, in the old law, thy true seruauntes tooke the death, for they would not eaten swynes fleshe that thou haddest forbid them to eat. O Lord, what truth is in vs to eaten vncleene mete of the soule, that thou hast forbid? Lord thou sayst, he that done sinne is seruaunt of sinne, and then he that lyeth in forswearing hymselfe, is seruaunt of lesing: and then he is seruaunt to the deuill that is a lyer and father of lesinges. And Lord thou sayst no man may serue two Lordes at ones. O Lord then euery lyer for the tyme that he lyeth, other forsweareth himselfe, and forsaketh thy seruice for drede of hys bodyly death, and becommeth the deuils seruaunte.

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MarginaliaSeruant of seruants, the popes stile abused. O Lord, what truth is in him that clepeth  

himselfe seruaunt of thy seruantes. & in his doing, he maketh him a Lord of thy seruauntes: Lord thou were both Lord and maister, and so thou sayd thy selfe, but yet in thy warkes thou were as a seruaunt. Lord this was a great truth and a great meeknes: but Lord bid thou thy seruaunts that they should nothaue Lordship ouer theyr brethren? Lord thou saydst kings of the heathē men han Lordship ouer their subiects, and they that vse their power be cleped   well doers.

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But Lord, thou saydst it shoulde not be so amongest thy seruantes, But he that were most should be as a seruaunt. Thou Lorde thou taughtest thy disciples to be meeke. Lord in the old law thy seruauntes durst haue no Lordship of theyr brethren, but if that thou bid them. And yet they should not doe to theyr brethren as they did to thrailes MarginaliaThralles  

, that is to say bond men. that serued them. But they should doe to theyr brethren that were theyr seruauntes as to theyr owne brethren. For all they were Abrahams Children, And at certaine tyme they should let theyr brethren passe from them in all freedome, but if they would wilfullich abiden still is seruice.

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O Lord thou gaue vs in thy comming a law of perfect loue, & is token of loue thou clepedst they selfe our brother. And to make vs perfect in loue, thou bid that we shoulde clepe to vs no father vpon earth, but thy father of heauen we should cleape our father. Alas Lord, how violently our brethren and thy childrē ben now put in bodily thraldome, and in despite as beastes euermore in greeuous trauell to finde proude men in ease: But Lord, if we take this defoule  

and this disease in pacience and in meeknes and kepe thine hests, we hope to be free. And Lord geue our brethren grace to come out of thraldome of sinne, that they fal in through the desiring and vsage of Lordship vpon theyr brethren. And Lord thie priestes in the old law had no Lordships among theyr brethren, but houses and pastures for theyr beastes: MarginaliaPride of priests. but Lord our priestes nowe haue great Lordship, and put theyr brethren in greater thraldome then lewed men that be Lordes. Thus is meekenesse forsaken.

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Lord thou biddest in the Gospell that when a man is bid to the feast he should sit in the lowest place, and then he may be set hyer with worship when the Lord of the feast beholdeth how his gestes sitteth. Lord it is drede that they that sit now in the hyest place should be bidd in tyme comming sit beneath. And that will be shame and vileny for them. And it is they sayng, those that hyeth himselfe shuld be lowed, and those that loweth themselues should be an heyghed. O Lord thou biddest in thy Gospell to beware of the Pharaseis, for it is a poynt of pryde contrary to meekenesse. And Lord thou sayst that they loue the first sittinges at supper, and also the principall chaires in churches, and greetings in cheeping and to be cleped maysters of men. And Lord thou sayest be yet not cleped maisters, for one is your maister, and that is Christ and all ye be brethren. And clepe ye to you no father vpon earth, for one

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