Matthew(i)
1 A Psalme of Asaph. O how louyng is God vnto Israel, to suche as are of a cleane hert?
2 Neuerthelesse my fete were almost gone, my treadynges had well nye slypte.
3 And why? I was greued at the wicked, to se the vngodly in suche prosperitie.
4 For they are in no parell of deathe, but stande fast lyke a palace.
5 They come in no misfortune lyke other folke, neither are they plaged like other men.
6 And this is the cause that they be so puft vp in pryde, and ouerwhelmed with crueltie & vnrighteousnesse.
7 Their eyes swell for fatnesse, they do euen what they lyst.
8 Corrupte are they, and speake blasphemyes maliciouslye, proude and presumpteous are their wordes.
9 They stretche forth their mouthe vnto the heauen, and their tongue goeth thorow the worlde.
10 Therfore fall the people vnto them, and thereout sucke they no small auauntage.
11 Tush (saye they) howe shoulde God perceiue it? is there knowlege in the most hyest?
12 Lo, these are the vngodly, these prospere in the worlde, these haue ryches in possession.
13 Shoulde I then clense my herte in vayne (thougt I) and washe my handes in innocency?
14 Wherefore shoulde I be then punyshed dayly, & be chastened euery mornynge?
15 Yea, I had almoost also sayd euen as they: but lo, then shoulde I haue condemned the generacion of thy chyldren.
16 Then thought I, to vnderstande this, but it was to harde for me.
17 Vntyll I wente into the Sanctuary of God, and considred the ende of these men.
18 Namely, how thou hast set them in a slippery place, that thou mayst cast them doune headlinges and destroye them.
19 O how sodenly do they consume, perysh, and come to a fearful ende?
20 Yea, euen like as a dreame when one awaketh, so makest thou their ymage too vanysh out of the cytye.
21 Thus my hert was greued, and it wente euen thorow my reynes.
22 So folysh was I and ignoraunte, and as it were a beast before the.
23 Neuerthelesse I am al waye by the, thou holdest me by my right hande.
24 Thou leadest me with thy counsayll, and afterwarde receyuest me vnto glory.
25 O what is there prepared for me in heauen? there is nothinge vpon earthe, that I desyre in comparyson of the.
26 My fleash & my hert fayleth, but God is the strength of my herte, and my porcion for euer.
27 For lo, they that forsake the shall perysh: thou destroyest all them that committe fornicacion agaynst the.
28 But it is good for me, to holde me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lorde God, and to speake of all thy workes.