Master Bezaes household prayers translated out of French into EnglishMaister Bezaes houshold prayers translated out of French into English

O LORD our GOD, and our Father, only great in glory, & of infinite power. It hath pleased thee so far forth to honour men (poor Worms of the Earth) that they may in full confidence, in thy love and bounty, present themselves before thy face, to magnify thy name: to ⟨image 151⟩talk of thy beneficence, and to crave thy mercy. We humbly beseech thee therefore by thy spirit to dispose of our souls, our hearts, and our lips to glorify thee, and so to call upon thee, that our vows may be acceptable unto thee, and our prayers heard, we confess our selves, in thy presence, to be so great sinners, that our unworthiness will not suffer us to look up unto heaven, without fear that thou shouldest, in thy just ⟨image 151⟩wrath thunder upon us: neither can we cast our eyes upon the earth, but we shall see as it were hell open for the reward of our wickedness: for we are, not only as the children of Adam, conceived and borne in sin, worthy of thy curse, but also, by our own faults, lusts, uncleanness, bad thoughts, and wicked works, whereinto through our corruption and frailty, we do daily fall, which also in our consciences are so many witnesses ⟨image 152⟩to condemn us, and as it were heralds that do denounce unto us death and hell: But (O Lord) thy mercies do infinitely exceed our malice, and thy eternal compassions, are upon sinners that convert and turn unto thee. Thou art that pitiful Father, that gladly received his prodigal and unthrifty Son. That loving shepherd that carefully seeketh the lost sheep; that charitable physician, that freely cometh to the ⟨image 152⟩sick to cure them. We therefore the children of thy love, the sheep of thy fold, and the poor in spirit, do most humbly beseech thee in the name of thy well beloved Son our mediator Jesus Christ, to vouchsafe to take away all our calamities in pardoning our sins, because thou hast given us this great Saviour in the world, to the end, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have life everlasting. We are baptized ⟨image 153⟩in his name, we have received his gospel: and he giveth us his body in thy church for spiritual food, that we may live in him, and of him for ever blessed.