BYcause of the synnes that ye haue commytted before God , ye shal be ledde prisoners in to Babylon by Nabuchodonozor kyng of the Babylons , whan ye therfore shall come vnto Babylon , ye shal be there many yeres and longe tyme vnto .vii. generations , but after that , I shall deliuer you from thens in peas , Than shall ye se gods of golde , of syluer , of stone , and of tree , that shal be borne vpon mens shulders , puttynge the people in feare . Beware therfore that ye do not lyke vnto the straungers , and that ye drede them not , nor be moued with any feare . Therfore whan ye shal se the people worshyppyng before and behynde , say in your hartes , Lorde god , it is thou , whiche muste be worshypped , And myne angell is with you , & I my selfe shall require your soules . For the wod of them is framed & fashoned by the carpentours , and those that be of golde & syluer , are false , and can not speake . And lyke as apparell is made for a virgin that loueth , so are they made of the golde that they haue receyued . Theyr gods haue golden crownes on theyr heddes , from whiche the prestes do take the golde and syluer , and deuide it amonge them selues . They gyue also therof vnto harlottes , & garnysshe hores therwith . And whan they haue receiued it agayne of the harlots , they garnysshe theyr gods therwith , yet can they not be kepte from rustyng and vermyne . For whan they be couered with garmentes of purple , the prestes must be fayne to make clene the faces of them , by cause of the dust of the house , wherof there is moche plentie in those parties . Some also haue septres in theyr handes lyke vnto men , & lyke vnto iudges of a realme , the which putteth not hym to dethe that trespaseth agaynst them . Some also haue swordes in theyr handes and axes , yet can not they delyuer them selues from batayle , nor from theues . wherfore be it knowen vnto you , that they be no gods , therfore do ye no worshyp vnto them . And lyke as a mans vessell whan it is broken seruethe to no purpose , euen so be theyr goddes , whan they are set vp in a house , their eies are full of dust by reason of their fete that come in . And lyke as dores are made fast about hym that hath offended a kynge , or as a corps that is brought vnto his graue , is kept in , Euen so do the preestis make sure the doores with barres and lockes , to th entent that they shall not be robbed of theues . The people do lyght candels befor● them , and that in great nombre , of the whiche they se not one , for they are as it were blockes in an house . And they say that the serpentes of the erthe do lycke theyr hartes , whan they do eate them & their garmentes , and yet they feele them not . Theyr facis are made blacke with the smoke that is in the house . The howlets and swalowes , and the byrdes do flee vpon theyr heddes , ye and also the wawlynge cattes , wherby ye may knowe that they are no gods ▪ therfore do ye not feare them . The golde also which they haue to make them glorious , wyll not glyster , excepte the rust be skoured of . For whan they were fyrst caste , they felte nothyng . They were bought with all maner of prices , yet is there no spirite in them . For lacke of fete , they are caryed on folkis shoulders , wherby the people may perceyue their impotencie . Confounded be they therfore that worshyppe them . And for that cause , if they hap to fal downe on the erth , they are not able to rise by them selues . And agayn , if one do set them vpryghte , they can not stande by them selues , but men be fayne for to stay them vp with their shoulders , lyke as they do corpsys . Theyr preestis do selle that that is offered vnto them , and abuse it , ye and theyr women do take therof , and gyue neuer a whyt vnto the syck nor vnto the poore women vnpuryfyed and hauynge theyr flowres do handell of theyr sacrifices . Seinge therfore that ye do knowe by these thinges , that they be no gods , do not feare them . For what cause are they called gods ? bycause women do offer all maner of thynges vnto those gods of golde , of siluer , and of tree , and prestes do syt in the houses of them , with iagged vestementes , hauynge theyr heddes and berdes shauen , whose heddes are bare . And they rore cryeng out vpon theyr gods , lyke as they do at the supper of one that is deed . The prestes take away theyr garmentes , & therwith do clothe theyr wyues & theyr chyldren . And if any do them displeasure , or do them pleasure , they are not able to requite it , no more are they able to make a kynge , nor to depose . Semblably they can gyue no ryches , nor can reuenge theyr harme . If any haue made a vowe vnto them , and hath not perfourmed it , they do not require it . They saue no man from dethe , neither do they defende the weake from the myghtye , They restore not the blynde vnto syght , neyther do they delyuer any man from necessite . They take no pytie of the wydowe , neither do they any good vnto orphelyns .

Theyr goddes of tree , stone , golde , and syluer , be lyke vnto stoones of the mountayne . And they that worshyppe them shall be confounded . Howe than may it be supposed or sayd that they be gods ? Moreouer the Caldees do no honour vnto them whiche whan they perceyued that the dombe coude not speke , they presented it vnto Bel , prayinge hym that he wold make it to speke , as though the thynges that moue not , myght haue any sense or felyng . And they them selfes whan they perceyue this , wyll forsake them . For theyr gods them selues lacke theyr senses . women also beinge gyrded with cordes do syt in the hyghe wayes , burnynge the leues of the Olyue trees , And whan it fortuneth that one of them is taken vp by any man passing by the hyghe way , and slepeth with hym , she vpbraydeth her neyghbour therwith , that she is not estemed so worthye as her selfe , and that her corde is not broken , but all thinges that be done vnto them are false . Howe than may hit be supposed or sayd , that they be goddes ? For they are made by workemen and golde smythes , They shal be none other thinges , but euen as it pleaseth preestes to haue them . The goldsmythes also that make them , lyue not euer . Howe is it possyble than the thinges of theyr makyng shulde be goddis ? But they haue lefte fayned thinges and opprobred to them that shal come after them . For whan warre shall chaunce vnto them and aduersyte , the prestes do immagyne wher they may hyde them selues with them . Howe than may it be beleued , that these are goddes ? The whiche can neither saue them selues from batayle , nor delyuer them selues from aduersities . for al be it they be made of woode , of stone , of golde , and of syluer , it shall be knowen afterwarde , through out all nations , that they are counterfet thinges , And it shal be manyfest vnto kynges , that they are no goddes , but the workes of mans handes , and that no worke of God is in them , wherby than it is euident that they be no goddes , but the workes of mannes handes , & that no worke of God is in them . They constitute no kynge in any realme , nor wyll sende rayne vnto men . They wyll discerne no iugement , neither wyll they defend countreys from iniuryes . For they can do nothyng no more than the crowes that are betwyxte the skye and the erthe . For if there chaunce any fyre vpon the house of those goddes of tree , of golde , and of syluer , theyr prestes forthwith wyll flee , & saue them selues , but theyr goddes shall be burned in the myddes lyke as blockes , and wyll not withstande any kyng nor batayle . Howe than may it be estemed or suffered , that they shuld be goddes ? These gods of tree , of stone , of golde , and of syluer , the which are of les strength than are the wycked , can not saue them selfes from theues . They shal robbe them of theyr golde & syluer , and theyr garmentes , wher with they be clothed , & yet can not helpe them selues . Better it is therfore to be a kynge that sheweth his puissaunce , or to be a profytayle vessell in an house , wherin the owner may take plesure , or to be a dore in an house , that kepeth the stuffe in saufegarde than to be false goddes . The sonne and the mone , and the sterres that do shyne , whan they are sent forth for necessary thynges , do obey .

Semblably the lyghtnynge whan it apperethe , it is visible , And lyke wyse the wynde doth blowe in euery contreye . And the cloudes ( whan they are commaunded by god to passe through the worlde ) they do accordynge as they be commaunded . The fyre also that is sent from aboue for to consume hylles and woddes , doth as it is commaunded . But these are not lyke neyther in beautie nor in vertue , vnto any of these thynges . wherfore it is neither to be estemed nor sayde , that they be goddes , for asmoche as they can not gyue iugement , nor profyte any thynge vnto men . Ye therfore knowynge that they be no goddes , do not feare them , for they wyl neyther curse kynges , nor blesse them . Also they do not shewe vnto the people signes from heuen , neyther shall they shyne as the son , ne gyue lyghte as the mone . The beastis are better than they , which can flee vnder houses , & helpe them selues . And so hit can appere vnto you by no meanes , that they are gods , for whiche cause do not feare them . For lyke as in a place where gourdes do growe , feare kepeth nothing , euen so be theyr goddes of wodde , syluer , and golde . They be in lyke case as is a whyte thorne in a gardeyn , wherupon euery byrde sitteth . Semblably theyr goddes of wood , golde , and syluer , are lyke vnto a corps that is cast into the darke . Ye may knowe also by the purple & the other paynted colours , that they haue vpon them , that they be no gods . And in conclusion they shal be eaten vp , & rebuke shal come in the contree , Better is the iust man , which hath no ymages for he shal be farthest from rebukes .