can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. There- 9 with bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth 10 proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and 11 bitter? Can the fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive-berries? either a vine, 12 figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is 13 a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye 14 have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is 15 earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is 16 confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is 17 first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the 18 fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Reproof of passion;

speaking.

2

FROM whence come wars and fightings among you? 4. pride; and evil- come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not: ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may 3 consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye 4 not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye 5 think that the scripture saith in vain, "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, "God 6 resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." Submit your- 7 selves therefore to God: resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 'Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, 8 ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and 9 mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he 10 shall lift you up. 'Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that 11 speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to 12 save, and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

Reproof for neglect Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will 13 of Providence. go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain,' whereas ye know not what shall be on the mor- 14 row; (for what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away :) for that ye ought to say, If the 15 Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in 16 your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that 17 knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

The condemnation Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your mis- 5 of the rich. eries that shall come upon you. Your riches are cor- 2 rupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is 3 cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down 4 your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the LORD OF SABAOTH. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; 5 ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have con- 6 demned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. 241

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2 H

Various exhortations.

BE patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain: 'be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the 8 coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, 9 brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name 10 of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure: ye have heard of the pa- 11 tience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

BUT above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, 12 neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him 13 sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the 14 church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the 15 Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

CONFESS your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye 16 may be healed: the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he 17 prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months: and he prayed again, and 18 the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

BRETHREN, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, 19 'let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of 20 his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER.

PETER, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered 1 throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ' elect ac- 2 cording to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

shall be unutterable

hereafter.

Though we endure BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord 3 trials in life, our joys Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, 4 and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, I who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready 5 to be revealed in the last time,' wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now 6 for a season, (if need be) ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of 7 gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom 8 having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice, with joy unspeakable, and full of glory, receiving 9 the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which 10 salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who proph esied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what 11

manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, 12 but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to 13 the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Of Christian

1

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves ac- 14 holiness. cording to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he 15 which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." ' 'And if 16 ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible 18 things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of 19 a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained 20 before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the 21 dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the 22 Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, 23 but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (For, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the 24 flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.") And this is the 25 word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Wherefore, laying 2 aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evilspeakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, 2 that ye may grow thereby : if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gra- 3 cious. To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of 4 men, but chosen of God, and precious, 'ye also, as lively stones, are 5 built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained 6 in the scripture, "Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded." Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which 7 be disobedient, “the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner," and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of 8 offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient; whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, 9 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now 10 the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

1

Christians must give

DEARLY beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pil. 11 no cause of reproach grims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the to the irreligious. soul; having your conversation honest among the Gen- 12 tiles that, whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the 13 Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, 14

:

.

as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well: (for so is the will of God, that with 15 well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men :) as free, 16 and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 'Honor all men. Love the brotherhood.

Honor the king.

Fear God. 17 SERVANTS, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the 18 good and gentle, but also to the froward.

For this is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience to- 19 How to bear injuries. ward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what 20 glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called; because Christ 21 also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; 'who, 22 when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously; who his 24 own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the 25 Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Duties of pious females.

LIKEWISE, ye wives, be in subjection to your own 3 husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives, while they 2 behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning 3 let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of 4 the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after 5 this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, (even 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; whose daughters ye are,) as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Like. 7 wise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

Of universal love; FINALLY, be ye all of one mind, having compassion 8 and the fear of God. one of another; love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrari- 9 wise, blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. "For he that will love life, and see good days, let 10 him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile : 'let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 11 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open 12 unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that 13 which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are 14 ye; and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 'but sanctify 15 the Lord God in your hearts.

Of bearing afflictions, after the example of Christ.

AND be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear: having a good conscience; that, 16 whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil-doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, 17 if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well-doing, than for evildoing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the un- 18

just, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the 19 spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, when once the 20 long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few (that is, eight) souls, were saved by water: the 21 like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; who is gone 22 into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels, and authorities, and powers being made subject unto him. Forasmuch then as Christ 4 hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; (for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin ;) 'that 2 he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice 3 us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries; wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to 4 the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: who shall give account 5 to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

6

BUT the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch 7 unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among your- 8 selves; for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality 9 one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, 10 even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man 11 minister, let him do it, as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ; to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever! Amen.

BELOVED, think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial which is to 12 try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, 13 inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be 14 reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, 15 or as a thief, or as an evil-doer, or as a busy-body in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a CHRISTIAN, let him not be ashamed; 16 but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judg- 17 ment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the 18 righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God, 19 commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. Exhortations to the THE elders which are among you I exhort, who am 5 also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: feed the flock 2 of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind: neither 3 as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock: 'and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of 4 glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves 5

old and young.