Jonah — Tyndale's Prophete Jonas (c. 1531)

Tyndale's translation of Jonah was printed at Antwerp, probably by Martin de Keyser and probably in 1531, as a small book of forty-eight pages. Its prologue, "W. T. vn to the Christen reader", is far longer than the four chapters of the book. In it Tyndale sets out how the Scriptures are to be read and applies the story of Jonah to the England of his own day. The title page and prologue come first here, then the text. The original printing has no verse numbers, and none are added: the text keeps the paragraphs of the print.

The title page

¶ The prophete Ionas / with an introducciō before teachinge to vnderstōde him and the right vse also of all the scripture / and why it was written / and what is therin to be sought / and shewenge wherewith the scripture is locked vpp that he which readeth it / can not vnderstōde it / though he studie therin neuer so moch: and agayne with what keyes it is so opened / that the reader can be stopped out with no sotilte or false doctrine of man / from the true sense and vnderstondynge therof.

W. T. vn to the Christen reader.

AS yᵉ ēvious Philistenes stopped yᵉ wesses of Abraham ād filled them vpp with erth / t⟨illegible⟩ put yᵉ memoriall out of mīde / to yᵉ entent yᵗ they might chalenge y⟨illegible⟩ grounde: even so the fleshly mīded ypocrites stoppe vpp the vaynes of life which are in y⟨illegible⟩ scripture / wᵗ the erth of theyr tradiciōs / false similitudes & lienge allegories: & y⟨illegible⟩ of like zele / to make y⟨illegible⟩ scripture theyr awne possessiō & marchaundice: and so shutt vpp the kingdome of heven which is Gods worde nether enterīge in thē selues nor soferinge them that wolde.

¶ The scripture hath a body with out / ād within a soule / sprite & life. It hath wᵗ out a barke / a shell ād as it were an hard bone for y⟨illegible⟩ fleshly mynded to gnaw vppon. And within it hath pith / cornell / mary & all swetnesse for Gods electe which he hath chosen to geve them his spirite / & to write his law & y⟨illegible⟩ faith of his sonne in their hertes.

¶ The scripture cōteyneth. iij. thīges in it first y⟨illegible⟩ law to cōdemne all flesh: secōdaryly y⟨illegible⟩ Gospell / yᵗ is to saye / promises of mercie for all yᵗ repent & knowlege their sinnes at the preachīge of yᵉ law & cōsent in their hertes that the law is good / & submitte themselues to be scolers to lern to kepe the lawe & to lerne to beleue y⟨illegible⟩ mercie that is promised thē: & thridly the stories & liues of those scolars / both what chaunces fortuned thē / & also by what meanes their scolemaster taught thē and made them perfecte / & how he tried the true from the false.

¶ When yᵉ ypocrites come to y⟨illegible⟩ lawe / they put gloses to ād make no moare of it then of a worldly law which is satisfied with y⟨illegible⟩ outwarde worke and which a turke maye also fulfill. Whē yet Gods law never ceaseth to cōdemne a man vntill it be written in his herte and vntill he kepe it naturally without cōpulsion & all other respecte saue only of pure love to God and his neyboure / as he naturally eateth whē he is an hongred / without cōpulsiō & all other respecte / saue to slake his hongre only.

¶ And whē they come to the Gospell / there they mīgle their leuen & saye / God now receaueth vs no moare to mercie / but of mercie receaueth vs to penaunce / that is to wete / holy dedes yᵗ make them fatt belies & vs their captiues / both in soule and body. And yet they fayne theyr Idole y⟨illegible⟩ Pope so mercifull / yᵗ if thou make a litle money glister in his Balams eyes / there is nether penaunce ner purgatory ner any fastīge at all but to fle to heven as sweste as a thought and at the twinkellynge of an eye.

¶ And the liues stories and gestes of men which are cōtayned in the bible / they reade as thīges no moare perteynīge vn to thē / then a take of Robī hode / & as thīges they wott not wherto they ferue / saue to fayne false discāt & tuglinge allegories / to stablish their kingdome with all. And one y⟨illegible⟩ chefest & fleshliest studie they have / is to magnifie y⟨illegible⟩ sayntes aboue measure & aboue y⟨illegible⟩ trueth & with their poetrie to make them greater then euer God make them. And if they fix de any infirmite or synne asscribed vn to y⟨illegible⟩ saintes / that they excuse with all diligēce / diminushīge the glorie of yᵉ mercie of God & robbinge wretched sinners of all theyr cō fo: te / & thinke therby to flater the sayntes and to obtayne their fauoure & to make speciall aduocates of thē: even as a man wold obtayne y⟨illegible⟩ fauoure of wordely tirantes: as they also fayne the saintes moch moare cruell then ever was any heathē man & moare wrekefull and vengeable then y⟨illegible⟩ poetes faine their godes or their furies yᵗ torment y⟨illegible⟩ soules in hell / if theyr euēs be not fasted & their images vifited & saluted wyth a Pater noster (whych prayer only oure lippes be accoynted with oure hertes vnderstōdinge none at all) and worsheped wᵗ a candell & y⟨illegible⟩ offerīge of oure deuociō / in y⟨illegible⟩ place which thei haue chosen to heare y⟨illegible⟩ supplicaciōs & meke peticiōs of their clientes therin.

¶ But thou reader thīke of yᵉ law of God how yᵗ it is all together spirituall / & so spirituall yᵗ it is neuer fulfilled wᵗ dedes or werkes / vntill they flow out of thyne herte wᵗ as greate loue toward thy neyboure / for no deleruīge of his ye though he be thine enimie / as Christ loued y⟨illegible⟩ ād did for the / for no desertīge of thyne / but evē whē thou wast his enimie. And in yᵉ meane time / thoroute all our infancie & childhod in Christ / tyll we ⟨illegible⟩e growen vpp in to perfecte men in the full knowlege of christ & full loue of christ agayne & of oure neyboures for his sake / after y⟨illegible⟩ ensample of his loue to vs / remenbir that y⟨illegible⟩ fulfillynge of y⟨illegible⟩ law is / a fastfayth in christes bloud coupled wᵗ our professiō & submyttīge ourselues to lerne to doo better ¶ And of y⟨illegible⟩ Gospell or promises which thou metest in y⟨illegible⟩ scripture / beleue fast y⟨illegible⟩ God will fulfill them vn to y⟨illegible⟩ / and that vn to y⟨illegible⟩ vttemost ⟨illegible⟩ott / at the repentaunce of thyne herte / whē thou turnest to hym & forsakest euell / even of his goodnesse & fatherly mertie vn to the / ād not for thy flatterlge hym with ypocritish workes of thyne awne fayninge. So yᵗ a fast faith only with out respecte of all workes / is the forgeuenesse both of the synne which we did in tyme of ignoraunce with luste ād cōsent to synne / & also of all the synne which we doo by chaunce & of frailte / after yᵗ we are come to knowlege ād have professed y⟨illegible⟩ law out of oure hertes. And all dedes serue only for to helpe oure neyboures & to tame oure flesh that we fall not to synne agayne / & to exercice oure soules in vertue / & not to make satisfaction to God ward for yᵉ synne yᵗ is once paste.

¶ And all other stories of yᵉ bible / with out excepciō / are y⟨illegible⟩ practisinge of yᵉ law & of the Gospell / and are true and faitfull ensamples & sure erneste yᵗ God will euen so deale with vs / as he did with thē / in all infirmities / in all temptaciōs / & in all like cases & chaunces. Wherin ye se on yᵉ one syde / how fatherly & tendirly & with all cōpassion god entreateth his electe which submitte them selues as scolers / to lerne to walke in the wayes of his lawes / & to kepe thē of loue. If they forgatt thē selues at a time & wēt astraye / he sought thē out & fett thē agayne with all mercie. If they fell & hurte thē selues / he healed thē agayne with all compassion & tendernesse of hert. He hath ofte brought greate tribulation & aduersite vppon his electe: but all of fatherly loue onlye to teach thē & to make them se their awne hertes & yᵉ sinne yᵗ there laye hid / that they might aftirwarde feale his mercie. For his mercie wayted vppon thē / to rid them out agayne / assone as they ware lerned & come to y⟨illegible⟩ knowlege of their awne hertes: so that he neuer cast man awaye how depe so euer he had sinned / saue thē ōly which had first cast y⟨illegible⟩ yocke of his lawes frō their neckes / with vtter diffiaunce & malice of herte. Which ensamples how cōfortable are they for vs / whē webe fallen in to sinne & God is come vppō vs with a storge / y⟨illegible⟩ we dispeare not / but repēt with full hope of mercie after y⟨illegible⟩ ensamples of mercie yᵗ are gone before? And therfore they were written for our lernīge / as testifieth Paul Ro. xv. to cōforte vs / y⟨illegible⟩ we might y⟨illegible⟩ better put oure hope & trust in God / whē we se / how mercifull he hath bene in tymes past vn to our weake brethern y⟨illegible⟩ are gone before / in all theyr aduersities / neade / temptaciōs / ye & horrible synnes in to which they now & then fell.

¶ And on y⟨illegible⟩ other side ye se how they y⟨illegible⟩ hardened their hertes & synned of malice & refused mercie y⟨illegible⟩ was offered thē & had no power to repēt / perished at y⟨illegible⟩ later ende with all confusion & shame mercilessely. Which ensamples are very good & necessary / to kepe vs in awe & dreade in tyme of prosperite as thou maist se by Paul. j. Cor. x. that we abyde in the feare of God / & way not wild and fall to vanities ād so synne ād prouoke God and bringe wrath vppon vs.

¶ And thridly ye se in that practise / how as god is mercifull & longesoferynge / euen so were all his true prophetes & prechers / beringe the infirmities of their weake brethern & their awne wrōges & iniuries with all paciēce & longesoferinge / neuer castinge any of thē of their backes / vn tyll they synned agenst y⟨illegible⟩ holygost / maliciously persecutinge y⟨illegible⟩ open & manifest trouch: cōtrary vnto the ensample of y⟨illegible⟩ Pope / which in sinninge agenst God & to quench y⟨illegible⟩ trueth of his holy spirite / is euer chefe captayne and trōpetblower / to sett other awerke / ād seketh only his awne fredome / liberte / priuilege / welth / prosperite / profite / pleasure / pastyme / honoure & glorie / with y⟨illegible⟩ bondage / thraldome / captiuite / miserie / wretchednesse & vile subiectiō of his brethern: & in his awne cause is so feruent / so steffe & cruell / that he will not sofre one word spoken agenst his false magiste / wily inuenciōs ād iuglynge ypocrisie to be vnaduēged / though all christendome shuld be sett to gether by the cares / and shuld cost he cared not how many hundred thousande their lives.

⟨illegible⟩ Ow y⟨illegible⟩ thou mayst reade Jonas frute fully & not as a poetis fable / but as an obligacō betwene God and thy soule / as an ernist peny geuen y⟨illegible⟩ of God / yᵗ he wil helpe y⟨illegible⟩ in time of nede / if thou turne to him ād as the word of god y⟨illegible⟩ only fode ād life of thy soule / this marke & note. First count Jonas the frend of god ād a man chosen of god to testifie his name vnto y⟨illegible⟩ worlde: but yet a younge scolar / weake & rude / after y⟨illegible⟩ faciō of y⟨illegible⟩ appostles / while Christ was yet with them bodyly. Which though Christ taught thē euer to be meke & to vmble thē selues / yet oft stroue amonge them selues who shuld be greatest. The sonnes of Zebede wold sitt / the one on the right hōde of Christ ād the other on y⟨illegible⟩ lifte. They wold praye / that fire might descēde from heuen / and consume the Samaritanes.

¶ Whē Christ axed who saye men that I am / Peter answered / thou arte the sonne of the lyuinge God / as though Peter had bene as perfecte as an angell. But immediatly after / when Christ preached vnto thē of his deeth & passiō / Peter was angre & rebuked Christe & thought ernestly yᵗ he had raued & not wist what he sayde: as at another time / when Christ was so feruētly busied in healinge y⟨illegible⟩ people / yᵗ he had no leyser to eate / they went out to holde him / supposinge that he had bene besyde him selfe. Ande one yᵗ cast out deuels in Christes name / they forbade / because he wayted not on them / so glorious were they yet.

¶ And though christ taughte all waye to forgeue / yet peter after longe goenge to scole / axed wether men shuld forgeue. vij. tymes / thynkinge yᵗ. viij. tymes had bene to moch. And at y⟨illegible⟩ last soper Peter wold have died with christe / but yet within fewe howres after / he denied hym / both cowardly & shamefully. And after y⟨illegible⟩ same maner / though he had so lōge herd that nomā might auenge him selfe / but rather turne y⟨illegible⟩ other cheke to / then to sinyte agayne / yet when Christ was in takīge / peter axed whether it were lawfull to smyte with y⟨illegible⟩ swerde / ād taried none answere / but layed on rashly. So that though when we come first vnto y⟨illegible⟩ knowlege of the trueth / and the peace is made betwene God & vs / & we loue his lawes & beleue & trust in hym / as in oure father & haue good hertes vnto him & be born anew in y⟨illegible⟩ sprite: yet we are but childern ād younge scolars weake & foble & must have leysar to grow in y⟨illegible⟩ spirite / in knowlege / loue & in y⟨illegible⟩ dedes therof / as younge childern must have tyme to grow in their bodies.

¶ And God oure father & seolemaster fedeth vs & teached vs accordinge vnto the capacite of oure stomakes / & maketh vs to grow & waxe perfecte / & fineth vs & trieth vs as gold / in y⟨illegible⟩ fire of temptaciōs & tribulations. As Moses wittneseth Deutero. viij. sayēge: Remēber all y⟨illegible⟩ waye by which y⟨illegible⟩ lord thy God caried y⟨illegible⟩ this. xl. yeres in y⟨illegible⟩ wildernesse / to vmble the & to tēpte or proue the / y⟨illegible⟩ it might be knowen what were in thine hert. He brougt the in to aduersite & made y⟨illegible⟩ an hongred / & then feed y⟨illegible⟩ with mā which nether thou ner yet thi fathers euer knew of / to teach y⟨illegible⟩ that a mā liueth no thy bred only / but by all that proceadeth out of the mouth of God. For y⟨illegible⟩ promises of god are life vnto all y⟨illegible⟩ cleaue vnto thē / moch moare thē is bred & bodyly sustinaunce: a⟨illegible⟩ y⟨illegible⟩ iourney of y⟨illegible⟩ children of Israel out of egypte in to y⟨illegible⟩ londe promised them / ministreth the notable ensamples & yᵗ aboundātly / a⟨illegible⟩ doeth all y⟨illegible⟩ rest of the bible also. How be it / it is impossible for flesh to beleue & to trust in y⟨illegible⟩ trueth of gods promises / vntyll he haue lerned it in moch tribulacion / after that God hath deliuered hī out therof agayne.

¶ God therfore to teach Jonas & to shew him his awne hert & to make him perfecte & to enstructe vs also bi his ensample / sen⟨illegible⟩ him out of y⟨illegible⟩ lande of Israel where he was a prophete / to goo amonge y⟨illegible⟩ heathē people & to y⟨illegible⟩ greatest & mightiest citie of y⟨illegible⟩ world thē / called Niniue: to preache yᵗ within. xl. dayes they shuld all perish for their sinnes & that y⟨illegible⟩ citie shuld be ouerthrowē. Which message y⟨illegible⟩ frewil of Jonas had as moch power to doo / as the weakest herted womāin the world hath power / if she were cōmaun ded / to leppe in to a tobbe of lyuinge snakes & edders: as happely if God had cōmaunded Sara to haue sacrificed hir sonne Isaac / as he did Abrahā / she wold haue disputed with hī yer she had done it / or though she were sirōge ynough / yet many an holy seint coud not haue sound in their hertes / but wold haue disobeyed ād haue runne awaye frō y⟨illegible⟩ presens of yᵗ cōmaūdemēt of god wᵗ Jonas if thei had bene so sirōgly tēpted.

¶ For Jonas thought of this maner: loo / I am here a prophete vnto Gods people the Israelites. Which though they haue gods word testified vnto them dayly / yet dispite it & worshepe God vnder y⟨illegible⟩ likenesse of calues & after all maner facions saue after his awne worde / & therfore are of all naciōs y⟨illegible⟩ worst & most worthy of punishment. And yet god for loue of few yᵗ are amonge them & for his names sake spareth them & defer⟨illegible⟩ deth them. How thē shuld god take so cruell vengeaunce on so greate a multitude of them to whome his name was neuer preached to ād therfore are not y⟨illegible⟩ tenth parte so euel as these? If I shal therfore goo preach so shall I lye & shame my selfe & God the to and make them the moare to dispice god and sett the lesse by him ād to be the moar⟨illegible⟩ cruell vn to his people.

¶ And vppon that imaginaciō he fled frō the face or presens of God: that is / out of y⟨illegible⟩ contre where God was worsheped in & frō prosecutynge of Gods cōmaundemēt / and thought / I wyll gett me a nother waye amonge y⟨illegible⟩ hethen people & be no moare a prophete / but lyue at rest & out of all cōbraunce. Neuer y⟨illegible⟩ lesse the god of all mercie which careth for his electe childern & turneth al⟨illegible⟩ vn to good to them & smiteth thē to heale them agayne & killeth thē to make thē al⟨illegible⟩ue agayne / & playeth with thē (as a father doth some tyme with his yoūge ignoraunt childern) & tempteth them & proueth them to make them se theyr awne hertes / prouided for onas / how all thinge shuld be.

¶ When Jonas was entered in to the sheppe / he layed him downe to slepe ād to take his rest: that is / his cōscience was tossed betwene the cōmaudemēt of God which sent him to Niniue / & his fleshly wisdome that dissuaded & counseled hym yᵉ cōtrary & at yᵉ last preualed agēst yᵉ cōmaundemēt & caried hym a nother waye / as a sheppe caught betwene. ij. streames / & as poetes faine the mother of Meliager to be betwene diuers affecciōs / while to aduēge hir brothers deeth / she sought to sle hir awne sonne. Where vppon for very payne & tediousnesse / he laye downe to slepe / for to put yᵉ cōmaundement which so gnew & freate his cōscience / out of minde / as y⟨illegible⟩ nature of all weked is / whē they haue sinned a good / to seke al meanes with riot / reuell & pastyme / to driue yᵉ remenbraunce of synne out of their thoughtes or as Adā did / to couer their nakednesse with aporns of pope holy workes▪ But God awoke hym out of his dreame / and sett his synnes before his face.

¶ For when y⟨illegible⟩ Lott had caught Jonas / thē be sure yᵗ his synnes came to remēbraunce agayne & that his conscience raged no lesse thē yᵉ waues of the se. And thē he thought that he only was a sinner & yᵉ hethen that ware in yᵉ shepp none in respecte of him / ⟨illegible⟩o thought also / as veryly as he was fled frō god / that as verily god had cast hi awaye▪ for y⟨illegible⟩ sight of y⟨illegible⟩ rod mal eth y⟨illegible⟩ natural child not ōly to se & to knowlege his faulte / but also to forgett all his fathers olde mercie & kindnesse. And then he cōfessed his synne openly & had yet seuer perish alone thē y⟨illegible⟩ y⟨illegible⟩ other shuld haue perished with him for his sake: and so of very desperacion to haue liued any lenger / bad cast him in to y⟨illegible⟩ see betymes / excepte they wold be lost also.

¶ To speake of lottes / how ferforth they are lawfull / is a light questiō. First to vse thē for the breakinge of strife / as when partenars / their goodes as equally diuided as they cā / take euery mā his parte by lott / to avoyde all suspiciō of disceytfulnesse: & as y⟨illegible⟩ appostles in y⟨illegible⟩ first of y⟨illegible⟩ Actes / whē they sought a nother to succede Iudas the traytoure / &. ij. persones were presentes / thē to breake strife & to satisfie al parties / did cast lott⟨illegible⟩es / wheter shuld be admitted / desirynge god to ⟨illegible⟩eper thē & to take whō he knew most mete / seynge they wist not wheter to preferre / or haply coude not all agre on ether / is lawfull ad in all like cases. But to abuse them vn to y⟨illegible⟩ tempiinge of God & to cōpell him therwith to vtter thinges wherof we stōd in doute / when we haue no commaundemēt of him so to do / as these hethē here dyd / though God turned it vn to his glorie / can not be but euell.

¶ The hethen s⟨illegible⟩epinē asstonied at y⟨illegible⟩ sight of y⟨illegible⟩ miracle / feared God / prayed to him / offered sacrifice & vowed vowes. And I doute not / but that some of thē or haply all came therby vn to the true knowlege & true worshepinge of God & ware wōne to God in theyr soules. And thꝰ God which is infinite mercifull in all his wayes / wrought their soules health out of y⟨illegible⟩ infirmite of Ionas / euen of his good will & purpose & loue wherewith he loued them before the world was made / & not of chaunce / as it appereth vn to the eyes of the ignoraunt.

¶ And that Jonas was .iij. dayes & .iij. nightes in the bely of his fish: we cā not ther by proue vn to te Iewes & īfideles or vn to any man / y⟨illegible⟩ Christ must therfore dye ād be buried & rise agayne. But we vse y⟨illegible⟩ ensample ād likenesse to strength the saith of the weake. For he that beleaueth the one cannot doute in y⟨illegible⟩ other: in as moch as the hād of God was no lesse mightie in preseruige Jonas aliue agenst all naturall possibilite & in deliuerynge hi safe out of his fish / thē in reysynge vpp Christ agayne out of his sepulchre. And wemaye describe y⟨illegible⟩ power & vertue of y⟨illegible⟩ resurrecciō therby / ac Christ hī selfe boroweth y⟨illegible⟩ similitud̄e therto Mat. xij. sayēge vn to y⟨illegible⟩ Jewes that came aboute him & desyred a signe or a wōder frō heuen to certifye thē that he was christ: this euell & wed lockebreakīge naciō (which breake y⟨illegible⟩ wedlocke of faith wherwith they be▪ maried vn to God / ād beleue in their false workes) seke a signe / but there shal no signe be geuen thē saue yᵉ signe of the Prophete Jonas. For as Jonas was. iij. dayes ād iij. nightes in the bely of the whale / euē so shall the sonne of man be. iij. dayes &. iij. nyghtes in the herte of the erth. Which was a watch word / as we saye / & a sharpe threateninge vn to y⟨illegible⟩ Jewes & as moch to saye as thus / ye harde herted Jewes seke a signe: loo / thys shalbe youre sygne / as Jonas was reysed out of the sepulchre of his fishe & then sent vn to the Niniuites to preach y⟨illegible⟩ they shuld perish / euen so shall I ryse agayne out of my sepulchre & come & preach repentaunce vn to you. Se therfore when ye se y⟨illegible⟩ signe that ye repēt or else ye sha⟨illegible⟩ suerly perish & not escape. For though the infirmities which ye now se i my flesh be a lett vn to youre faythes / ye shall yet then be with out excuse / when ye se so greate a miracle & so greate power of god shed out vppō you. And so Christe came agayne after y⟨illegible⟩ resurrecciō / in his spirite & preached repētaunce vn to them / by the mouth of his appostles & disciples / & with miracles of y⟨illegible⟩ holy gost. And all that repented not perished shortly after ād were for y⟨illegible⟩ most parte slayne with swerde ād y⟨illegible⟩ rest caried awaye captiue in to all quarters of the world for an ensample / as ye se vn to this daye.

¶ And in lyke maner sens the world beganne / where soeuer repentaunce was offered and not receaued / there God toke cruell vengeaunce immiediatly: as ye se in y⟨illegible⟩ ⟨illegible⟩loud of No⟨illegible⟩ / in the ouerthrowēge of Sodō & Gomor & all the contre aboute: & as ye se of Egipte / of the Amorites / Cananites & afterwarde of the very Israelites / & then at the last of the Jewes to / ād of the Assyriens and Babysoniens and so thorout all the imperes of the world.

¶ Gyldas preached repētaunce vn to y⟨illegible⟩ o⟨illegible⟩ de Britaynes that inhabited englōd: they repented not / & therfore God sent in theyr enimies vppō thē on euery side & destroyed thē vpp & gaue the lōd vn to other naciōs And greate vengeaunce hath bene takē in that lande for synne sens that tyme.

¶ Wicleffe preached repētaunce vn to oure fathers not longe sens: they repēted not for their hertes were indurat & theyr eyes blinded with their awne Pope holy rightwesnesse wherwith they had made theyr soules gaye agenst the receauinge agayn⟨illegible⟩ of y⟨illegible⟩ woked spirite that bringeth. vij. worse then hym selfe with him & maketh y⟨illegible⟩ late ⟨illegible⟩ ende worse then the beginninge: for in open sinnes there is hope of repentaunce / but in holy ypocrisie none at all. But what folowed? they slew their true & right kinge ād sett vpp▪ iij. wrōge kīges arow / vnder which all the noble bloud was slayne vpp ād halfe the coniēs therto / what in fraunce & what with their awne swerde / in fightīge amonge thē selues for y⟨illegible⟩ crowne / & y⟨illegible⟩ cities and townes decayed and the land brought halfe in to a wyldernesse in respecte of that it was before.

¶ And now Christ to preach repētaunce / is resen yet ōce agayne out of his sepulchre in which the pope had buried him and kepte him downe with his pilars and polaxes and all disgysinges of ypocrisie / with gyle / wifes and falshed / ād with the swerd of al princes which he had blynded with his false marchaundice. And as I dowte not of y⟨illegible⟩ ensamples that are past / so am I sure that greate wrath will folow / excepte repētaunce turne it Backe agayne and cease it.

¶ When Jonas had bene in te fishes bely a space & the rage of his conscience was somewhat quieted ād swaged and he come to him selfe agayne and had receaued a lytle hope / the qualmes & panges of desperaciō which went ouer hys hert / halfe ouercome he prayed / as he maketh menciōin the texte sayēge: Jonas prayed vn to the lord his god out of the bely of the fishe. But the wordes of that prayer are not here sett. The prayer y⟨illegible⟩ here stonde th in the texte / is the prayer of prayse & thākesgeuēge which he prayed and wrote when he was escaped and past all ieopardie.

¶ In the end of which prayer he sayth / I will sacrifice with the voyce of thankesgeuenge and paye that I haue vowed / that sauinge cometh of the lorde. For verely to cōfesse out of the herte / that all benefites come of God / euen out of the goodnesse of his mercie and not deseruinge of oure dedes / is the only sacrifice that pleaseth God. And to beleue that god only is the sauer / is the thynge that all the Jewes vowed in theyr circumcision / as we in oure baptim. Which vowe Jonas now tawght with experiēce / promiseth to paye. For those outwarde sacrifices of bestes / vn to which Jonas had haply asscribed to moch before / were but feble & childish thinges & not ordeyned / that the workes of thē selues shuld be a seruice vnto god / but vn to the people / to put thē in remembraunce of this inwarde sacrifice of thankes & of faith to trust and beleue in God the only sauer. Which significacion when was awaye / they were abhominable and deuellysh ydolatrye and imageseruice: as oure ceremonies and sacramentes are become now to all that trust & beleue in the werke of them and ar not taught the significacions / to edifye theyr soules with knowlege and the doctrine of God.

¶ When Jonas was cast vppō lond agayne / then his will was fre ād had power to goo whother God sent him & to doo what God bade / his awne imaginacions layed a parte. For he had bene at a new scole / ye ād in a fornace where he was purged of moch refuse & droshe of fleshly wisdome / which resisted y⟨illegible⟩ wisdome of god & led Jonases wil cōtrary vn to y⟨illegible⟩ will of god. For as ferre as we be blynd in Adam / we can not but seke & will oure awne profitt / pleasure & glorie. And as ferre as we be taughte in the sprite / we can not but seke & wyll the pleasure and glorie of God only.

¶ And as for the. iij. dayes iourney of Niniue / whether it were in length or to goo rounde aboute it or thorow all the stretes / I cōmitte vn to the discreciō of other men. But I thinke that it was then the greatest citie of the world.

¶ And that Jonas wēt a dayes iourney in the citie / I suppose he did it not in one daye: but wēt fayre & easyly preachīge here a sermon & there a nother & rebuked the synne of the people for which they must perishe.

¶ And when thou art come vn to the repētaunce of the Niniuites / there hast thou sure ernest / that how soeuer angre god be / yet he remembreth mercie vn to all that truly repent and beleue in mercie. Which ensample oure sauioure Christ also casteth in the teeth of the indurat Jewes sayenge: the Niniuites shall rise in iudgemēt with this nacion and condemne them / for they repented at the preachynge of Jonas / and beholde a greater thē Jonas here / meanynge of hym selfe. At whose preachinge yet / though it were neuer so mightie to perce the herte / & for all his miracles therto / the hard herted Jewes coude not repent: when the heathen Niniuites repented at the bare preachynge of Jonas rebukinge theyr synnes with out any miracle at all.

¶ Why? For y⟨illegible⟩ Jewes had leuēded the spirituall law of God and with theyr gloses had made it all to gether erthie ād fleshly / and so had sett a vayle or coueringe on Moses face / to shodowe and darken y⟨illegible⟩ glorious brightnesse of his contenaunce. It was synne to stele: but to robbe wedowes howses vnder a coloure of longe prayēge / & to polle in the name of offeringes / and to snare y⟨illegible⟩ people with intollerable cōstitucions agēst all loue / to ketch theyr money out of theyr purses / was no synne at all.

¶ To smyte father ād mother was synn: But to withdraw helpe frō them at theyr nede / for blynde zele of offeringe / vn to the profytt of the holy phareses / was then as meritorious as it is now to let all thy kynne chose wheter they will synke or sweme / while thou byldest and makest goodly fundaciōs for holy people which thou hast chosen to be thy christe / for to sowple thy soule with the oyle of theyr swete blessynges / & to be thy Jesus for to saue thy soule from y⟨illegible⟩ purgatory of the bloud that only purgeth synne / with theyr watchīge / fastīge / wolward goinge & rysynge at mydnyght etc. where wyth yet they purge not them selues from theyr couetousnesse / pryde / lechury or any vyce that thou seyst amonge the laye people.

¶ It was greate synne for Christ to heale the people on the sabboth daye vn to the glorie of God hys father / but none at all for them to helpe theyr catell vnto theyr awne profett.

¶ It was synne to eate wyth vnwashen handes or on an vnwashen table / or out of an vnwashen dish: but to eate out of that purifyed dysh that which came of brybery / theft & extorsion / was no synne at all.

¶ It was exceadynge meritorious to make many dyscyples: But to teach them to feare God in hys ordynaunces / had they no care at all.

¶ The hye prelates so defended the ryght of holy church ād so feared the people with the curse of God & terreble paynes of hell / that no man durst leaue the vilest herke in hys gardeyne vntythed. And the offerynge and thynges dedycat vn to God for the profitt of hys holy vycars where in soch estymacion and reuerēce / that it was moch greater synne to sweare truly by them / thē to for swere thy selfe by God: what vengeaunce then of God / and how terreble and cruell damnacion thynke ye preached they to fall on thē that had stolen soch holy thīges? And yet sayth Christ / that ryghtwesnesse ād faith in kepynge promise / mercie and indyfferent iudgement were vtturly troden vnder fote and cleane dispysed of those blessed fathers / whych so mightely mayntened Arons patrimony ād had mad it so prosperous ād enuironed it and walled it aboute on euery syde with y⟨illegible⟩ feare of god / that noman durst twech it.

¶ It was greate holynesse to garnysh y⟨illegible⟩ se pulchres of y⟨illegible⟩ prophetes & to cōdemne their awne fathers for sleynge of them: and yet were they thē selues for blinde zele of their owne cōstituciōs / as ready as their fathers to sle whosoeuer testified vn to them / the same trueth which the prophetes testified vn to theyr fathers. So that Christ cōpareth all the rightwesnesse of those holy patriarkes vn to the out warde bewtye of a paynted sepulchre full of stench and all vnclennesse wythyn.

¶ And finally to begyld a mans neyboure in sotle bargeninge and to wrappe and cōpase him in with cauteles of the law / was then as it is now in the kingdome of y⟨illegible⟩ Pope. By the reason where of they excluded the law of loue out of theyr hertes / ād cōse quētly all true repentaunce: for how coude they repēt of y⟨illegible⟩ they coude not se to be sinne?

¶ And on the other syde they had sett vpp a rightwesnesse of holy workes / to clense theyr soules with all: as the Pope sanctifieth vs with holy oyle / holy bred / holy salt / holy candels / holy dome ceremonies ād holy dome blessynges / and with what soever holynesse thou wilt saue with the holynes of▪ Gods worde which only speaketh vn to the herte and sheweth the soule hir fi⟨illegible⟩thyne⟨illegible⟩se and vnclennesse of synne / and leadeth hir by y⟨illegible⟩ waye of repentaunce vn to y⟨illegible⟩ fountayne of Christes bloude to washe it awaye thorow faith. By the reason of which false rightwesnesse they were dysobedient vn to the rightwesnesse of God / which is the forgeuenesse of synne in Christes bloude and coude not beleue it. And so thorow fleshly interpretynge the law ād false imagined rightwesnesse / their hertes were hardened ād made as stony as clay in an hote surnace of fire / that they coude receaue nether repentaunce ner faith or any moyster of grace at all.

¶ But the hethen Niniuites / though they were blynded with lustes a good / yet were in those. ij. poyntes vncorrupte and vnhardened / & therfore with the only preachinge of Jonas came vn to the knowlege of their synnes and confessed them & repented truly & turned euery man from his euelldedes & declared theyr sorow of hert & true repentaunce / with theyr dedes which they dyd out of faith & hope of forgeuenesse / chastysinge their bodies with prayer & fastinge & with takinge all pleasures from the flesh: trustynge / as god was angre for their wer kednesse / even so shuld he forgeue them o⟨illegible⟩ hys mercye / yf they repēted & forsoke their mysse fyuinge.

¶ And in the last ende of all / thou hast yet a goodly ensample of lernynge / to se how erth ye Jonas is styll for all hys tryenge in the whales bely. He was so sore displeased because the Niniuites perished not / that he was wery of hys lyfe and wished after the deeth for very sorow & payne / that he had loost the glorie of his prophesienge / in that his prophesie come not to passe. But god rebuked him with a likenesse sayenge: it greueth thyne hert for the losse of a vile shrob be or spraye / wheron thou bestoweddest no loboure or cost / nether was it thyne handwerke. How moch moare then shuld greue myne herte / the losse of so greate a multitude of innocētes as are in Niniue / which are all myne handes werke. Nay Jonas / Jam God ouer all / and father as well vn to the hethen as vn to the Jewes ād mercifull to all and warne yer I smyte: nether threte I so cruelly by any prophete / but that I wyll forgeue yf they repent ād ax mercie: nether on the other syde / what soeuer I promyse / wyll I fulfyll it / saue for theyr sakes only whych trust in me and submitte them selues to kepe my lawes of very loue / as naturall chyldern.

ON thys maner to read y⟨illegible⟩ scripture is y⟨illegible⟩ right vse therof & why y⟨illegible⟩ holy gost caused it to be writtē. That is yᵗ thou first seke out y⟨illegible⟩ law / what god will haue the to doo / interpretinge it spiritually with cut glose or coueringe the brightnesse of Moses face / so yᵗ thou fele in thyne hert / how that it is damnable synne before god / not to loue they neyboure that is thyne enimie / as puerly as Christ loued the / and y⟨illegible⟩ not to loue thy neyboure in thyne herte / is to haue cōmitted all ready all synne agenst him. And therfore vn tyll that loue become / thou must knowlege vnfaynedly that there is synne in the best dede thou doest. And it must ernestly greue thyne hert and thou must washe all thy good dedes in christes bloude / yet they can be pure and an acceptable sacrifice vn to God / and must desire god y⟨illegible⟩ father for his sake / to take thi dedes a worth & to pardō y⟨illegible⟩ imperfectenesse of them / & to geue the power to doo thē better and with moare feruent loue.

¶ And on the other syde thou must serch diligently for the promises of mercie which God hath promised the agayne. Which. ij. poyntes / that is to wete / y⟨illegible⟩ lawe spiritually interpreted / how that all is dānable synne that is not vnfayned loue out of the grownde and botom of the herte after the ensample of Christes loue to vs / because we be all equally created ād formed of one god oure father / and indifferently bought & redemed with one bloud of oure sauioure Jesus Christe: ād that the promises be geuen vn to a repentynge soule that thursteth and longeth after them / of the pure and fatherly mercie of god thorow oure faith onely with oute al deseruinge of oure dedes or merites of oure werkes / but for Christes sake alone and for the merites ād deseruinges of his werkes / deth and passions that he sofered all together for vs & not for himselfe: whych. ij. poyntes I saye / if they be written in thine herte / are the keyes which so open all the scripture vn to the / that no creature can locke the out / and with which thou shalt goo in and out / and finde pasture and fode euery where. And yf these lesons be not writtten in thyne herte / then is all the scripture shutt vpp / as a cornell in the shale / so that thou mayst read it and comen of it and reherse all the stories of it and dispute sotilly and be a profounde sophister / and yet vnderstond not one Iot therof.

¶ And thridly that thou take the stories & liues which are cōteyned in the bible / for sure ād vndowted ensamples / yᵗ God so will deale with vs vn to the worldes ende.

¶ Here with Reader farewell and be commended vn to God / and vn to the grace of hys spryte. And first se that thou stoppe not thyne eares vn to the callynge of god / and that thou harden not thine herte begyled with fleshly interpretinge of the law & false imagined and ypocritish rightwesnesse / and so the Niniuites ryse with the at yᵉ day of iudgement & condemne the.

¶ And secōdarily if thou finde ought amisse / when thou seyst thy selfe in the glasse of Gods worde / thynke it cōpendious wisdome / to amende y⟨illegible⟩ same betymes / moneshed & warned by the ensample of other men / rather thē to tary vntill thou be beten also.

¶ And thridly if it shall so chaunce / that y⟨illegible⟩ wild lustes of thy flesh shall blynd the and carie the cleane awaye with them for a tyme: yet at the later ende / when y⟨illegible⟩ god of all mercie shall haue compased the in on euery syde with tēptaciōs / tribulacions / aduersities & cōbraunce / to bringe y⟨illegible⟩ home agayne vn to thyne awne herte / & to set thy sinnes wich thou woldest so fayne couer & put out of mynd with delectaciō of voluptuous pastymes / before y⟨illegible⟩ eyes of thy cōscience: then call y⟨illegible⟩ faithfull ensample of Jonas & all lylie stories vn to thy remēbraunce / ād with Jonas turne vn to thi father that smote y⟨illegible⟩: not to cast y⟨illegible⟩ awaye / but to laye a corosie ād a ⟨illegible⟩eeatige playlier vn to y⟨illegible⟩ pocke that laye ⟨illegible⟩o & fret inwarde / to draw y⟨illegible⟩ disease out & so make it appere / y⟨illegible⟩ thou mightest feale t⟨illegible⟩y seckenes & y⟨illegible⟩ daunger therof & come & re leaue the healynge playster of mercie.

¶ And forget not yᵗ what soeuer ensample of mercie god hath shewed sens y⟨illegible⟩ beginninge of y⟨illegible⟩ world / the same is promised the / yf thou wilt in like maner turne agayne and receaued it as they dyd. And with Jonas be a knowen of thy synne & cōfesse it & knowlege it vn to thy father.

¶ And as y⟨illegible⟩ law which freteth thy cōscience / is in thyne herte & is none outwarde thige / evē so seke within in thine herte / yᵉ playster of mercie / the promyses of forgeuenesse in oure sauioure Jesus Christe / accordinge vn to all the ensamples of mercie that are gonne before.

¶ And with Jonas let thē that wayte on vanities & seke god here & there & in euery tēple saue in their hertes goo / & seke thou y⟨illegible⟩ testamēt of god in thyne hert. For in thyne hert is the worde of y⟨illegible⟩ law / & in thyne hert is y⟨illegible⟩ worde of fayth in the promises of mercie in Jesus Christe. So that yf thou cōfesse with a repentynge herte & knowlege ād surely beleue yᵗ Jesus is lorde ouer all synne / thou art saffe.

¶ And finally when the rage of thy cōsci⟨illegible⟩ce ⟨illegible⟩ ceased and quieted with fast faith in the promises of mercie / then offer with Jonas the offeringe of prayse and thankesgeuinge / & paye the vow of thy baptim / that God only saueth / of his ōly mercie & goodnesse: that is / beleue stedfastly & preach cōstantly that it is God only that smyteth / and God only that healeth: ascribynge y⟨illegible⟩ cause of thy tribulation vn to thyne awne synne / and y⟨illegible⟩ cause of thy deliueraunce vn to the mercie of God.

¶ And beware of the leuē y⟨illegible⟩ saith we haue power in oure frewill before y⟨illegible⟩ preachinge of y⟨illegible⟩ Gospell / to deserue grace / to kepe y⟨illegible⟩ law / of cōgruite / or god to be vnrightwesse. And f⟨illegible⟩ie with Jhon in the first / yᵗ as y⟨illegible⟩ law was geuē by Moses / euē so grace to fulfill it / is geuē by christe. And whē they saye oure dedes with grace deserue heuen / sa⟨illegible⟩e thou wᵗ Paule Ro. vj. y⟨illegible⟩ euerlastīge life is the gifte of god thorow Jesus Christ oure lorde / & yᵗ we be neade sonnes by faith Jhon. j. & therfore heyres of god with christ Ro. viij. And says that we receaue al of god thorow faith that foloweth repentaunce / & yᵗ we doo not oure werkes vn to god / but ether vn to oureselues / to fley y⟨illegible⟩ sinne that remayneth in y⟨illegible⟩ flesh & to waxe perfecte / ether vn to oure neyboures which doo as moch for vs agayne in some other thīges. And whē a mā exceadeth in giftes of grace / let hī vnderstōde that they be geuē him / as wel for his weake brethern / as for him selfe: as though all the bred be cōmitted vn to the panter / yet for his felowes with hym / which geue the thankes vn to theyr forde / and recompence the panter agayne with other kynde seruice in theyr offices. And when they saye that Christ hath made no satisfaccion for the synne we doo after oure baptym: saye thou wyth the doctrine of Paule / that in oure baptym we receaue the merytes of Christes deeth thorow repentaunce and fayth of which two / baptim is the sygne. And though when we synne of fra⟨illegible⟩ltie after oure baptym we receaue the sygne no moare / yet we be renewed agayne thorow repentaunce and faith in Christes bloude / whych twayne / the sygne of baptym ever contynued amonge vs in baptisynge oure younge childern doeth euer kepe in mynde and call vs backe agayne vn to oure profession if we be gonne astraye / & promiseth vs forgeuenesse. Nether can actuall synne be washed awaye with oure werkes / but with Christes bloude: nether can there be any other sacrifice or satisfaccion to Godward for them / saue Christes bloude. For as moch as we can doo no werkes vnto God / but receaue only of his mercie with oure repentynge fayth / thorow Jesus Christe oure forde and only sauer: vn to whom & vn to God oure father thorow him / and vn to hys holy spirite / that only purgeth / sanctifieth & washeth vs in the innocēt bloude of oure redemption / be prayse for ever

AMEN.

The text

Chapter 1

The first Chapter.

THe worde of the lorde came vn to the prophete Jonas yᵉ sonne of Amithai sayenge: ryse & gett the to Niniue that greate citie & preach vn to thē / how that theyr wekednesse is come vpp before me.

¶ And Jonas made hi ready to fle to Tharsis frō the presens of y⟨illegible⟩ lorde / & gatt hym downe to Joppe / and founde there a sheppe ready to goo to Tharsis / & payed his fare / & wēt aborde / to goo with them to Tharsis frō the presens of the lorde.

¶ But y⟨illegible⟩ lorde hurled a greate winde in to y⟨illegible⟩ se / so that there was a myghtie tēpest in these: in so moch yᵗ the shepp was lyke to goo in peces. And the mariners were afrayed & cried euery man vn to his god / & cast out y⟨illegible⟩ goodes yᵗ were in yᵉ sheppe in to y⟨illegible⟩ se / to lighten it of thē. But Jonas gatt him vnder the hatches & layed him downe and ⟨illegible⟩lombrede. And y⟨illegible⟩ master of the sheppe came to him & sayd vn to hī / why slomberest thou? vpp / & call vn to thy god / that God maye thinke on vs / that we perish not.

¶ And they sayde one to a nother / come & lett vs cast lottes / to know for whose cause we are thus troublede. And they cast ⟨illegible⟩ottes. And y⟨illegible⟩ lott fell vppon Ionas.

¶ Thē they said vnto hī / tel vs for whose cause we are thus trowbled: what is thine occupaciō / whence comest thou / how is thy cōtre called / & of what nacion art thou?

¶ And he answered thē / I am an Ebrue: & the lord God of heuen which made both se and drie land / I feare. Then were the men exceadingly afrayd & sayd vn to him / why diddest thou so? For they knew that he was fled from the presens of the lorde / because he had told them.

¶ Then they sayd vn to hym / what shall we doo vnto the / that these mayecease frō trowblinge vs? For these wrought & was trowblous. And he answered them / take me and cast me in to these / & so shall it lett you be in reste: for I wotte / it is for my sake / that this greate tempest is come oppon you. Neuerthelesse the men assayed wyth rowenge to bringe the sheppe to lande: but it wold not be / because these so wrought & was so trowblous agenst them. Wherefore they cried vn to the lorde & sayd: O lorde latt vs not perih for this mans deeth / nether laye innocēt bloud vn to oure charge: for thou lorde even as thy pleasure was / so thou hast done.

¶ And thē they toke Ionas / & cast hī in to y⟨illegible⟩ se / & the se lefte ragynge. And yᵉ men feared the lorde excedingly: & sacrificed sacrififice vn to the lorde: and vowed vowes.

Chapter 2

¶ The seconde Chapter.

BUt y⟨illegible⟩ lorde prepared a greate fyshe / to swalow vp Ionas. And so was Ionas in yᵉ bowels of yᵉ fish. iij. dayes &. iij. nightes. And Ionas prayed vnto y⟨illegible⟩ lord his god out of y⟨illegible⟩ bowels of the fish.

¶ And he sayde: in my tribulacion I called vn to the lorde / and he answered me: out of the bely of hell I cried / ād thou herdest my voyce. For thou hadest cast me downe depe in the middes of the se: & the floud cōpased me aboute: and all thy waues & rowles of water wēt ouer me: & I thought y⟨illegible⟩ I had be ne cast awaye out of thy sight. But I will yet agayne loke towarde thy holy temple. The water cōpased me euē vn to the very soule of me: the depe laye aboute me: ād the wedes were wrappte aboude myne heed. And I wēt downe vn to the botome of the hylles / & was barred in with erth on euery syde for euer. And yet thou lorde my God broughtest vp my life agayne out of corrupcion. When my soule faynted in me / I thought on the lorde: & my prayer came in vn to the / even in to thy holy temple. They yᵗ obserue vayne vanities / haue forsakē him that was mercifull vn to them. But I wil sacrifice vn to the with the voce of thankesgeuinge / & will paye that I have vowed / that sauinge cometh of the lorde.

¶ And the lorde spake vn to the fish: and it cast out Ionas agayne vppon yᵉ drie lande.

Chapter 3

¶ The. iij. Chapter.

THen came the worde of the lorde vn to Ionas agayne sayenge: vpp / ād gett yᵉ to Niniue that greate citie / & preache vn to thē the preachynge which I bade yᵉ. And he arose & wēt to Niniue at yᵉ lordes cōmaundmēt. Niniue was a greate citie vn to god / cōteynīge. iij. dayes iourney

¶ And Ionas went to & entred in to y⟨illegible⟩ citie euen a dayes iourney / and cried sayenge: There shall not passe. xl. dayes but Niniue shalbe ouerthrowen.

¶ And the people of Niniue be leued God / and proclaymed fasiynge / ād arayed them selues in sackeloth / as well the greate as the small of them.

¶ And y⟨illegible⟩ tydinges came vn to the kinge of Niniue / which arose out of his sete / and did his apparell of & put on sackcloth / & sate hī downe in asshes. And it was cried ād commaunded in Niniue by y⟨illegible⟩ auctorite of y⟨illegible⟩ kinge ād of his lordes sayenge: se that nether mā or beest / oxe or shepe tast ought at al / & that they nether fede or drinke water.

¶ And they put on sackcloth both man ād beest / & cried vn to God mightily / ād turned euery man from his weked waye / and frō doenge wrōge in which they were acustomed / sayenge: who can tell whether god will turne & repent / & cease from his fearce wrathe / that we perish not? And when god saw theyr workes / how they turned from theyr weked wayes / he repented on yᵉ euell which he sayd he wold doo vn to them / ād dyd it not.

Chapter 4

¶ The. iiij. Chapter.

WHerfore Ionas was sore discontent ād angre. And he prayed vn to the lorde ād sayd: O lord / was not this my sayenge when I was yet in my contre? And therfore I hasted rather to fle to Tharsis: for I knew well ynough that thou wast a mercifull god / ful of cōpassion / long yer thou be angre and of greate mercie and repentest when thou art come to take punishment. Now therfore take my life from me / for I had leuer dye then liue. And the lorde said vn to Ionas / art thou so angrie?

¶ And Ionas gate him out of the citie and sate him downe on the est syde theroffe / ād made him there a bothe ād sate thervnder in the shadowe / till he might se what shuld chaunce vn to the citie.

¶ And y⟨illegible⟩ lorde prepared as it were a wild vine which sprāge vp ouer Ionas / that he might haue shadowe ouer his heed / to deliuer him out of his payne. And Ionas was exceadynge glad of the wild vine.

¶ And the lorde ordeyned a worme agenst the springe of y⟨illegible⟩ morow mornīge which smote the wild vine / that it wethered awaye. And assone as the sonne was vpp / God prepared a feruent cest winde: so that y⟨illegible⟩ sonne bete ouer the heed of Jonas▪ that he fainted agayne ād wished vn to hys soule that he might dye / and sayd / it is better for me to dye then to liue.

¶ And god sayd vn to Jonas / art thou so angre for thy wildvine? And he sayde / I am angrie a goode / even on to the deeth. And the lorde sayde / thou hast compassion on a wild vine / wheron thou bestoweddest no laboure ner madest it growe / which sprange vp in one night and perished in another: and shuld not I haue compassion on Niniue that greate citie / wherin there is a multitude of people / euen aboue an hundred thousande that know not theyr right hand from the lyfte / besydes moch catell?

Colophon

Transcribed from The prophete Ionas with an introduccion before teachinge to vnderstonde him ([Antwerp: M. de Keyser, 1531?]; STC 2788), British Library copy, as keyed by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A16000): keyed by Apex CoVantage from the ProQuest page images in 2005, then sampled and proofread by Emma (Leeson) Huber. The TCP transcription was released into the public domain under CC0 1.0. The printed text is in the public domain.

Spelling, capitals, punctuation (including the virgule /), abbreviation marks (the macron, as in thē, and ꝭ) and the signs ¶ ✚ ⊢ ❧ are kept as printed. The only changes are these: long s (ſ) is set as s; superscript letters are set as ᵉ ᵗ ᵒ (yᵉ = the, yᵗ = that); ▪ marks a stop the transcribers could not identify; a word divided at the end of a line, with or without a printed hyphen, is joined into one word; page breaks and catchwords are removed. Woodcuts and decorated initials are not reproduced, but woodcut captions are given. Printed headings are kept, including their misprints, as italic lines under the library's chapter headings.

The print has no verse numbers, and no verse-numbered text of this same printing was used, so none are added. The paragraphs are those of the print. Words or letters that the transcribers could not read are marked ⟨illegible⟩ (235 places on this page), and none has been supplied from another text.

This is an archival transcription of Tyndale's printed English, not a Good Works Translation: nothing here has been translated or modernised by the library.

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