Page:The Holy Scripture (Myles Coverdale).djvu/7

==A prologe to the reader== Now where as the mo&#383;t famous interpreters of all geue &#383;ondrye iudgmentes of the texte(&#383;o farre as it is done by ye &#383;prete of knowlege in the holy goo&#383;t) me thynke noman &#383;hulde be offended there at, for they referre theyr doingis in mekenes to the &#383;prete of trueth in the congregacyon of god: &amp; sure I am, that there commeth more knowlege and vnder&#383;tondinge of the &#383;cripture by theyr &#383;ondrie tran&#383;lacyons, then by all the glo&#383;es of oure &#383;ophi&#383;ticall docteurs. For that one interpreteth &#383;omthynge ob&#383;curely in one place, the &#383;ame tran&#383;lateth another(or els he him &#383;elfe) more manife&#383;tly by a more playne vocable of the &#383;ame meanyng in another place. Be not thou offended therfore(good Reader) though one call a &#383;crybe, that another calleth a lawyer: or elders, that another calleth father &amp; mother: or repentaunce, that onother calleth pennaunce or amendment. For yf thou be not de&#383;ceaued by mens tradicio&#772;s, thou &#383;halt fynde nomore dyuer&#383;ite betwene the&#383;e termes then betwene foure pens and a grote. And this maner haue I v&#383;ed in any tran&#383;lacyon, callynge it in &#383;ome place pennaunce, that in another place I call repentaunce, and that not onely becau&#383;e the interpreters haue done &#383;o before me, but that the aduer&#383;aries of the trueth maye &#383;e, how that wwe abhore not this worde pe&#772;naunce(as they vntruly reporte of vs) no more then the interpreters of latyn abhore penitere, when they reade re&#383;ipi&#383;cere. Onely oure hertes de&#383;yre vnto God, is, that his people be not blynded in ther vndir&#383;tondyng, le&#383;t they beleue pennaunce to be ought &#383;aue a very repe&#772;taunce, ame&#772;dment, or conuer&#383;yon vnto God, and to be an vnfayned new creature in Chri&#383;t, and to lyue acordyng to his lawe, for els &#383;hall they fal in to the olde bla&#383;phemy of Chri&#383;tes bloude, and beleue, that they the&#772; &#383;elues are able to make &#383;ati&#383;faccion vnto God for theyr awne &#383;ynnes, from the which erroure god of his mercy and ple&#772;teous goodnes pre&#383;erue all his.

Now to conclude for &#383;o moch as all the &#383;cripture is wrytten for thy doctryne &amp; en&#383;ample, it &#383;hal be nece&#383;&#383;ary for the, to take holde vpon it, whyle it is offred the, yee and with ten handis thankfully to receaue it. And though it be not worthelymini&#383;tred vnto the in this tran&#383;lacyon(by rea&#383;on of my rudnes) yet yf thou be ferue&#772;t in thy prayer, God &#383;hal not onely &#383;ende it the in a better &#383;haype, by the myni&#383;tracyon of other that beganne it afore, but &#383;hall al&#383;o moue the hertes of them, which as yet medled not withall, to take it in hande, and to be&#383;towe the gifte of theyr vnder&#383;tondynge theron, as well in oure language as other famous interpreters do in other languages. And I praye God, that thorow my poore mini&#383;tracyon herein, I maye geue them that can do better, &#383;ome occa&#383;yon &#383;o to do: exhortyng the(mo&#383;t deare reader) in the meane whyle on Gods behalfe, yf thou be a heade, a Judge, or ruler of ye people, that thou let not the booke of this lawe departe out of thy mouth, but exerci&#383;e thy&#383;elfe therin both daye and nyghte, and be euer readyng in it as longe as thou lyue&#383;t: that thou maye&#383;t lerne to feare the Lorde thy God, &amp; not to turne a&#383;yde from the commaundement, nether to the right hande ner to the lefte: le&#383;te thou be a knower of per&#383;onnes in iudgme&#772;t wre&#383;t the righte of the &#383;traunger, of the fatherles or the wedowe, and &#383;o ye cur&#383;e to come vpon the. But what office &#383;o euer thou ha&#383;t wayte vpon it, and execute it, to the mayntenaunce of peace, to the welth of thy people, defendynge the lawes of God, and the louers therof, and to the de&#383;truccyon of the wicked.

Yf thou be a preacher, and ha&#383;t the ouer&#383;ighte of the flocke of Chri&#383;t, awake and fede Chri&#383;tes &#383;hepe with a good herte, &amp; &#383;pare no laboure to do them good, &#383;eke not thy &#383;elfe, &amp; bewarre of fylthy lucere, but be vnto ye flocke an en&#383;ample, in ye worde, in co&#772;uer&#383;acyon, in loue, in feruentnes of ye &#383;prete, and be euer readynge, exhortynge, + teachynge in Gods worde, that the people of God renne not vnto other doctrynes and le&#383;t thou thy &#383;elfe(whan thou &#383;hulde&#383;t teach other) be founde ignoraunt therin. And rather then thou wolde&#383;t teach the people eny other thynge then Gods worde take the boke in thyne hande, &amp; reade the wordes eue&#772; as they &#383;tonde therin(for it is no &#383;hame &#383;o to do, it is more &#383;hame to make a lye). This I &#383;aye for &#383;och, as are not yet experte in the &#383;cripture, for I reproue no preachyng without the book as longe as they &#383;aye the trueth.

Yf thou be a man that ha&#383;t wyfe and childre&#772;, fu&#383;t loue thy wyfe, acordynge to the en&#383;ample of the loue, wherwith Chri&#383;t loued the co&#772;gregacion, and remembre that &#383;o doynge, thou loue&#383;t euen thy&#383;elfe: yf thou hate her, thou hate&#383;t thine awne fle&#383;h: yf thou cheri&#383;he her and make moch of her, thou cheri&#383;he&#383;t &amp; make&#383;t moch of thy&#383;elfe for &#383;he is bone of thy bones, &amp; fle&#383;h of thy fle&#383;h. And who &#383;o euer thou be that ha&#383;t children, brynge them vp in the nurtour and informacion of the Lorde. And yf thou be ignoraunt, or art other wy&#383;e occupied lawfully that thou can&#383;t not teach them thy &#383;elfe, then be euen as diligent to &#383;eke a good ma&#383;ter for thy childre&#772;, as thou wa&#383;t to &#383;eke a mother to beare them: for there lieth as great weight in the one as in ye other. Yee better it were for the&#772; to be vnborne, then not to feare God, or to be euel brought vp, which thynge(I meane bryngynge vp well of children) yf it be diligently loked to, it is the vpholdinge of all comon welthes: and the negligence of the &#383;ame, the very decaye of all realmes.

Fynally, who &#383;o euer thou be, take the&#383;e wordes of &#383;cripture in to thy herte, and be not onely an ear&#383;twarde hearer, but a doer therafter, and practy&#383;e thy&#383;elfe therin: that thou maye&#383;t fele in thine hert, the &#383;wete promy&#383;es therof for thy con&#383;olacion in all trouble, &amp; for the &#383;ure &#383;tably&#383;hinge of thy hope in Chri&#383;t, and haue euer an eye to ye wordes of &#383;cripture, that yf thou be a teacher of other at the lee&#383;t though thou be but an hearer or reader of onother mans doynges, thou maye&#383;t yet haue knowlege to iudge all &#383;pretes, and be fre from euery erroure, to the vtter de&#383;truccion of all &#383;edicious &#383;ectes &amp; &#383;traunge doctrynes, that the holy &#383;crypture maye haue fre pa&#383;&#383;age, and be had in reputacion, to the wor&#383;hippe of the author therof, which is euen God him&#383;elfe: to whom for his mo&#383;t ble&#383;&#383;ed worde be glory &amp; domynion now &amp; euer. Amen.