William Tyndale (Pentateuch, Jonah &NT)

The fyrst epistle of S. Peter the Apostle.
A Prologe to the fyrst epistle of Saynt Peter.

This epistle dyd saynt Peter wryte to the Hethen that were conuerted & exhorteth th to stondefast in the fayth / to grow therin and to wexe perfect / thorow all maner of sofferinge & also good workes.

In the fyrst he declareth the iustyfyenge of fayth thorow Christes bloude / & comforteth them with the hope of the lyfe to come / and sheweth that we haue not deserued it / but that the Prophetes prophisied it shuld be geuen vs / & as Christ which redemed vs oute of synne and all vnclennes is holye / so he exhorteth to leade an holye conuersacion: & because we be rychlye bought & made heyres of a ryche inherytaunce / to take hede that we lose it not agayne thorow oure awne necgligence.


In the seconde Chap. he sheweth that Christ is the foundacion & hed corner stone wherobar.gif all are bylt thorow fayth / whether it be Iewe or gtyle / & how that in Christ they are made Prestes / to offer themselues to god (as christ dyd him selfe) & to sle the lustes of the flesshe that fyght agaynst the soule. And fyrst he teacheth them in generall to obeye the worldlye rulars and then in speciall he teacheth the seruauntes to obey their masters be they good or bad / & to soffre wronge of them as Christ soffered wrobar.gifge for vs.

In the thyrde he teacheth the wyues to obeye their husbandes / ye though they be vnbeleuers and to apparell them selues godlye and as yt be commeth holynes. And therto that the husbandes soffre and beare the infirmite of their wyues and lyue accordinge to knowledge with them. And then in generall he exhorteth them to be softe / courteous / pacient and frendlye one to another / and to soffre for ryghteousnes after the ensample of Christ.

In the fourthe he exhorteth to fle synne & to tame the flesshe with sobrenes watchinge and prayer / and to loue eche other / and to knowe that all good gyftes are of God and euery m to helpe his neyboure with soche as he hath receaued of god / & fynallie not to wonder / but to reioyce though they must soffre for christes names sake seinge as they be here partakers of his afflicciobar.gifs / so shall they be partakers of his glorye to come.

In the fyueth he teacheth the bysshopes and prestes how they shuld lyue and fede Christes flocke: and warneth vs of the deuell which on euery syde lyeth in wayte for vs.


The fyrst epistle of S. Peter the Apostle.
The fyrst Chapter.

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[Untitled Possibly Huge Image] Peter an Apostle of Iesu Christ / to them that dwell here and there as straungers 1.A thorowout Pontus / Galacia / Capadocia / Asia / & Bethinia / electe by þe forknowledge of God þe father / thorow the sanctifyinge of the sprete / vnto obedience and springklinge of the bloud of Iesus Christ. Grace be with you and peace be multiplyed.

Blessed be God þe father of oure Lorde Iesus Christ / which thorow is aboundant mercie begat vs agayne vnto a lively hope / by the resurreccion of Iesus Christ frobar.gif deeth / to enioye an inheritaunce immortall & vndefiled / & that purifieth not / reserved in heven for you / which are kept by the power of God thorow fayth / vnto salvacion / which salvacion is prepared all redy to be shewed in the last tyme /

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in the which tyme ye shall reioyce / though now for a season (if nede requyre) ye are in hevines / thorowe manifolde temptacions / that youre fayth once tried / beinge moche more precious then golde þt perissheth (though it be tried with fyre) myght be founde vnto lawde / glory / and honoure at the apperinge of Iesus Christ: whobar.gif ye have not sene & yet love him / in whom even now / though ye se him not / ye
yet beleue / and reioyce with ioye vnspeakable and glorious: receavynge the ende of youre fayth / the salvacion of youre soules.

Of which salvacion have the Prophet[es] enquyred & searched / which prophisied of þe grace that shuld come vnto you / searchinge wh or at what tyme the sprete of Christ which was in them shuld signifie / which sprete testified before / the passions that shuld come vnto Christ / & the glory that shuld folowe after: vnto which Prophetes it was declared / that not vnto them selves / but vnto vs / they shuld minister the thinges which are now shewed vnto you of them which by þe holy goost sent doune frobar.gif heven / have preached vnto you the thinges which the angels desyre to beholde.

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2.CWherfore gyrde vp þe loynes of youre myndes / be sober / & trust perfectly on the grace þt is brought vnto you / 3.C by the declaringe of Iesus Christ / as obedit chyldr / not facioninge youre selves vnto youre olde lustes of ignorcye: but as he which called you is holy / ev so be ye holy in all maner of conuersacion / because it is written. Be ye holy / for I am holy.

And yf so be þt ye call on the father which with out respecte of person iudgeth accordinge to every mnes 4.C worke / se þt ye passe the tyme of youre pilgremage in feare. cross.gif For as moche as ye know how that ye were not redemed with corruptible sylver and golde from youre vayne conversacion which ye receaved by the tradicions of the fathers:

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but with the precious bloud of Christ / as of a lambe
vndefiled / and withouten spot / which was ordeyened before the worlde was made: 5.D but was declared in the last tymes for youre sakes / which by his meanes have beleved on god that raysed him from deth / 6.D and glorified him / that youre fayth and hope myght be in god.

7.DAnd for as moche as ye have purified youre soules thorowe the sprete / in obeyinge the trueth for to love brotherly withouten saynynge / se that ye love one another with a pure hert fervently: for ye are borne a newe / not of mortall seed / but of immortall / by the worde of god which liveth / & lasteth for ever. For all flesshe is as grasse / 8.D and all the glory of man is as the floure of grasse. The grasse widdereth / and the flower falleth awaye / but the worde of the lorde endureth ever. cross.gif And this is the worde which by the gospell was preached amonge you.

The .ii. Chapter.

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UVherfore laye asyde all maliciousnes and all gyle / and dissimulacion / and envie / and all backbytynge: and as newe borne babes / desyre that reasonable mylke which is with out corrupcion / that ye maye growe therin. If so be that ye have tasted how plesaunt the lorde is / to whom ye come as vnto a livynge stone disalowed of men / but chosen of god and precious: and ye as lyvynge stones / are made a spretuall 9.A housse / and an holy presthode / for to offer vp spretuall sacryfice / acceptable to god by Iesus Christ.

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Wherfore it is contayned in the scripture: beholde / I put in Sion an heed corner stone /
electe and precious: and he that beleveth on him shall not be ashamed. 10.BVnto you therfore which beleve / he is precious: but vnto them which beleve not / þe stone which þe bylders refused þe same is made þe heed stone in the corner / & a stone to stomble at / & a rocke to offende them which stomble at the worde / 11.B and beleve not that where on they were set. But ye are a chosyn generacion / a royall presthod / an holy naciobar.gif / and a peculiar people / that ye shuld shewe the vertues of him that called you out of darknes into hys marvelous light which 12.B in tyme past were not a people / yet are now the people of God: which were not vnder mercye but now have obteyned mercye. cross.gif

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13.Ccross.gif Derly beloved / I beseche you as stragers and pilgrems / abstayne from flesshly lustes which fyght agaynst the soule / and se that ye have honest conversacion amonge the gtyls that they which backbyte you as evyll doars 14.C maye se youre good workes and prayse god in the daye of visitacion.

Submit youre selves vnto all manner ordinaunce of man for the lordes sake / whether it be vnto the kynge as vnto the chefe heed: 15.C other vnto rulars / as vnto them that are sent of him / for the punysshment of evyll doars: but for the laude of them that do well. For so is the will of god / that ye put to sylence the ygnorancie of the folyshe men: as fre / and not as havinge þe libertie for a cloke of maliciousnes but even as the servates of god. Honoure all men. Love brotherly felishippe. 16.CFeare


god and honour the kynge.

17.CServauntes obey youre masters with all feare / not only yf they be good & courteous: but also though they be frowarde. For it is thankeworthye yf a man for conscience towarde god endure grefe / sufferinge wrongfully. For what prayse is it / if when ye be buffeted for youre fautes / ye take it paciently? But and yf when ye do well / ye suffer wronge and take it paciently / then is there thanke with God.

For herevnto verely were ye 18.C called: for cross.gif Christ also suffered for vs levinge vs an insample þt ye shuld folowe his steppes / which dyd no sinne / nether was ther gyle founde in his mouth: which when he was reviled / reviled not agayne: 19.C wh he suffered / he threatened not: but comitted the cause to him that iudgeth ryghteously / which his awne silfe bare oure synnes in his body on the tree / that we shuld be delyvered from synne and shuld lyve in rightewesnes. By whose strypes ye were healed. For ye were as shepe goinge astraye: but are now returned vnto þe shepheerd 20.C and bisshoppe of youre soules. cross.gif

The .iii. Chapter.

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21.ALykewyse let the wyves be in subiecciobar.gif to their husbdes / that ev they which beleve not the worde / maye with out the worde be wonne by the conversacion of þe wyves: whill they beholde youre pure cobar.gifversacion coupled with feare. Whose apparell shall not be outwarde with broyded heare / &
hanginge on of golde / other in puttinge on of gorgious aparell: but let the hyd man of the herte be incorrupt / 22.A with a meke & a quyet sprete / which sprete is before God a thinge moche set by. For after this maner in the olde tyme dyd the holy wemen which trusted in God / tyer th selves / & were obedit to their husbdes / ev as Sara obeyed Abrah & called him Lorde: 23.A whose doughters ye are as longe as ye do well / and be not afrayde of every shadowe.

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Lyke wyse ye men dwell with them accordinge to knowledge / 24.B gevinge honoure vnto the wyfe / as vnto the weaker vessell / & as vnto them that are heyres also of the grace of lyfe / that youre prayers be not let. 25.B

cross.gif In cobar.gifclusion / be ye all of one mynde / one suffre with another / love as brethren / be petifull / be courteous / not rdringe evyll for evyll / 26.B nether rebuke for rebuke: but contrary wyse / blesse / remembringe þt ye are thervnto called / even þt ye shuld be heyres of blessinge. If eny m longe after life / & loveth to se good dayes / let him refrayne his tonge frobar.gif evyll / & his lippes that they speake not gyle. Let him eschue evyll & do good: let him seke peace / & ensue it. For þe eyes of þe Lorde are over þe righteous / & his eares are open vnto their prayers. But þe face of the Lorde beholdeth th that do evyll.

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Moreover who is it that will harme you yf ye folowe þt which is good? Not withstondynge happy are ye yf ye suffre for rightewesnessis sake. Ye and feare not though they seme terrible vnto you / nether be troubled: but
sanctifie the Lorde God in youre hertes. Be redy all wayes to geve an answere to every 27.C man that axeth you a reson of the hope that is in you / & that with meaknes and feare: havinge a good conscice / that when they backbyte you as evyll doars / they maye be ashamed / for as moche as they have falsely accused youre good conversacion in Christ.

It is better (yf the wyll of God be so) that ye suffre for well doynge / then for evyll doynge. cross.gif 28.C For as moche as Christ hath once suffered for synnes / þe iuste for þe vniuste / forto bringe vs to God / & was kylled / as pertayninge to the flesshe: but was quyckened in the sprete.

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In which sprete / he also wt & preached vnto the spretes that were in preson / which were in tyme passed disobedient / when the longe sufferinge of God abode excedinge paciently in the dayes of Noe / 29.D whyll the arcke was a preparinge / wherin feawe (that is to saye.viii soules) were saved by water / which signifieth baptim that now saveth vs / not þe puttinge awaye of þe filth of the flesshe / but in that a good conscience consenteth to God / by þe resurrecciobar.gif of Iesus Christ which is oure right honde of God cross.gif & is gone into hev / angels / power and myght subdued vnto him.

The .iiii. Chapter.

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For as moche as christ hath suffred for vs in the flesshe / 30.A arme youre selves lyke wyse with the same mynde: for he which suffereth in the flesshe ceasith frobar.gif synne / that he hence forwarde shuld lyve as moche
tyme as remayneth in the flesshe: not after þe lustes of men / but after the will of God. For it is sufficient for vs that we have spent the tyme that is past of the lyfe / after the will of the gentyls / walkinge in wantannes / lustes / dronkennes / in eatinge / drinkinge and in abominable ydolatrie.

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And it semeth to them a straunge thinge that ye runne not also with them vnto the same 31.B excesse of ryote / & therfore speake they evill of you / which shall geve a cobar.gifptes to him that is redy to iudge quycke & deed. For vnto this purpose verely was þe gospell preached vnto the (deed) that they shuld be condempned of men in þe flesshe / but shuld live before God in the sprete. The ende of all thing[es] is at honde.

cross.gif Be ye therfore discrete & sober / þt ye maye be apte to prayers. But above all thinges have fervt love amobar.gifge you. For love 32.B covereth the multitude of synnes. Be ye herberous one to another / & that [wt] out grudginge. As every man hath receaved the gyfte / minister the same one to another as good ministers of the manyfolde grace of God.

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Yf eny man speake / let him talke as though he spake þe wordes of God. If eny man minister / let him do it as of þe abilitie which god ministreth vnto him. That god in all thing[es] maye be glorified thorow Iesus Christ cross.gif / to whom be prayse and dominion for ever and whyll the worlde stondeth. Amen.

Dearly beloved / be not troubled in this heate / which now is come amobar.gifge you to trye you


as though some strage thinge had happened 33.C vnto you: but reioyce in as moche as ye are partetakers of Christes passions / that when his glory appereth / ye maye be mery and glad.

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If ye be rayled vpon for the name of Christ happie are ye. For the sprete of glory and the sprete of god resteth apon you. On their parte he is evyll spoken of: but on youre parte he is glorified.

Se that none of you suffre as a murtherer / or as a thefe / or an evyll doar / or as a busybody in other mens matters. Yf eny man suffre as a Christ man / let him not be ashamed: but let him glorifie god on his behalfe. For the tyme is come that iudgement must begynne at the housse of god. 34.DIf it fyrst begynne at vs / what shall the ende be of them which beleve not the gospell of god? And yf the righteous scasly be saved: where shall the vngodly & the sinner appere? Wherfore let them that suffer accordynge to the will of god / commit their soules to him with well doynge / as vnto a faythfull creator

The .v. Chapter.

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The elders which are amonge you / I exhorte / which am also an elder and a witnes of the affliccions of Christ / and also a partaker of the glory that shalbe opened: se that ye fede Christes flocke which is amonge you / takynge the oversyght of them / not as though ye were compelled therto / but willyngly: not for the desyre of filthy lucre / but of a good mynde. not as though ye were lordes over the 35.A parisshes: but that ye be insample
to the flocke. And when the chef shepheerde shall appere / ye shall receave an incorruptible croune of glorye.

Lykwyse ye yonger submit youre selves vnto the elder. Submit youre selves every man / one to another / knet youre selves togedder in lowlines of mynde. For god resisteth þe proude & geveth grace to the humble. cross.gif

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Submit youre selves therfore vnder the myghty honde of god / that he maye exalt you / wh the tyme is come. Cast all youre care to him: for he careth for you.

36.B Be sober and watch / for youre adversary þe devyll as a rorynge lion walketh about / sekynge whom he maye devoure: whom resist stedfust in the fayth / rembrynge that ye do but fulfill the same afflicciobar.gifs which are 37.B apoynted to youre brethren that are in the worlde. The God of all grace / which called you vnto his eternall glory by Christ Iesus / shall his awne silfe after ye have soffred a lytell afflicciobar.gif make you perfect: shall settle strenght & stablishe you. To him be glory & dominiobar.gif for ever / and whill the worlde endureth Amen. cross.gif

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By Silvanus a faythfull brother vnto you (as I suppose) have I written brefly / exhortynge and testifyinge how that this is the true grace of god / wherin ye stonde. The companious of youre eleccion þt are at Babilobar.gif / 38.C saluteth you / and Marcus my sonne. Grete ye one another with the kysse of love. Peace be with you all which are in Christ Iesus.

Amen.

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