to ma ke them sure They be iiij coÌ„iectures for wherfor shuld I not tell them forthe by tale as treasure which nowe orderlye I will reherse THe first coniecture is taken out of Elie the Prophete which the Iewes recite as out of the mouth of God spoken in diuerse places of theyr bokes called Thalmude For they be writen in theyr boke called Abodazara in the i. Cha. in theyr boke called â—aichedrim in y â— laste Cha. and also in other places on thys maner The house or scole of Elie hath affirmed and left it thus writen Elye hath sayd that sixe thousande yeares shal the world stand â—r endure Two thousande voyde of anye lawe written two thousande vnder the lawe writen two thousande vnder the dayes of Messias Hytherto Elias afterward the rabbins added these wordes But for our sin nes which be great and many the fyfte thousande and an halfe be thus past and yet is not Messias comen But yet is this doutles an oracle worthy to be beleued for many causes although it be not expressed in the scriptures For fyrst to begyn therewith this oracle is susteyned with the wordes of Moyses in the Psal. after the Hebrewe rekenynge xc to which Saynt Peter cleaueth in hys ij Epistle iij Cap. saying That a thousand yeares with the Lord be but as one day Also hereof it foloweth That as god cre ated all thynges in vi dayes rested in the. vij Euen so shal he sixe thousand yeares gouerne the world subiect to generacyon and corruptyon and in the seueÌ„th thousand bryng in that euerlasting rest of which Thapostle so plainely speketh Hebre. iiij that he semeth to shewe the selfe same misterye as it were with hys fynger ☞ Besides this it consenteth ryght well with all the other coniectures folowyng and it is constantly celebrated and hyghly estemed of the Iewes as the assewered oracle of the Prophete and yet it fighteth plainly agaynst them selues theyr infidelitie whiche may not be beter confounded then in y t they be coÌ„pelled by theyrowne sainges of Elias to graunt y â— Messias shuld raygne the hole laste two thousande yeares yet contrary to their sayng they still loke for him as thoughe he were not comeÌ„ For by this clause added That for theyr synnes God differreth Messias birthe theyr selues confesse frely and plainly the time of christes birthe not to hauehad beÌ„ yet past in this last age of late but rather then whaÌ„ theyr bo ke of thalmude was publyshed euen about y e yeare of our Lord. CCCC xxxvi Wherof it is manifelt that thei haue wai ted more then these eleuen hondred yeres for a nother messias then our Lord Christ and al in vayne The cause whereof they falsely impute it to their own sinnes For Christ was in so certain a prediffined tyme promised to vs theÌ„ that neyther for theyr sinnes must he haue had ben borne y e later nor yet for theyr good liuig haue comen the soner of y â— which thing more peradueÌ„ture shalbe spokeÌ„ in another pla ce Although some of our religyon wold contend to drawe this litle clause of Chri stes birthe now paste vnto thend of the worlde as thoughe for our synnes there shuld waÌ„te muche of these sixe thousande yeares so that they be not fulfylled But thys sence although it maketh well for our purpose yet the Hebrew wordes receyue it not Wherfor this is the meanig of the oracle That the world froÌ„ the time wherof Moses said The earth was emp tye grosse and void dured two thousand before the lawe of circumcision with her adpertinences was geuen to AbrahaÌ„ of which it is writteÌ„ Gen. 26 27. That al nacyons shalbe blessed in thy sead And from the time of delyueraunce of circum cision to Abraham vnto Christes birthe there dured also other two thousand yea res which thyng syth it is proued manyfestly so to haue come to passe for Christ was born suffred about the four thousand yeares froÌ„ y e creacion nedes muste the rest of y e oracle also be true y â— froÌ„christ to the ende of the worlde there shalbe no more peraduenture much lesse then two thousande eueÌ„ as Elias sayd But in that as certain yeres of the laste two myllenaryes be paste and yet Christ be not come as y e Iewes dreame because of their sinnes as they wold seme to excuse theyr vnbeleue with another synne of vnbelief they be vtterly deceiued For after this oracle Christ is verely comen so y t about fower thousand yeares from the creacyoÌ„ he was crucifyed rose agayn froÌ„ death ascended to heauen and in the ende of the world thence to come to iudge the quicke and deade And where the Iewes fro the creacyon hither to reken CC. yeres lesse then we the cause is that emong manye of theyr errours this is one great ouer-fight For they reken dariuÌ„ Hystaspis or Longimane vnder whom the teÌ„ple was redifyed and Darium that was ouer comen of greate Alexander bothe for one Kynge of the Medys and Persyans to haue reigned but vi yeares wheÌ„ there canne betwixt them after Ptoleme Cxcij yeares which thyng we shal discusse diligently in our cronicle This coniecture is also holpen by Henoch and Elie hymselfe which bothe were translated quick out of thys miserable lyfe to that blessed immortalitie death neuer tasted For as the sixe fyrst generacyons that is to say AdaÌ„ Seth Enos Lainam Mahalaleel Iared dyed and the seuenth generacâ—on euen Henâ—ch hym selfe whom Iudas in hys Epistle meÌ„tioned not without a cau se to be the seuenth is immortal Euen so thorow these vi millenaries of the world shall death raygne and in the seuenthe shal floresh that blessed immortalite And as the fyrste vi ages of men from Adam to Elie were subiect to death and the seuenth which is Elie obieyned immortali tie For Elias was rapt vp alyâ—e in the charet of fyer euen so thorow these vimillenaryes shall the mortall lyfe dure And in the beginnyng of the seuenth shal we be taken vp to mete Christ comynge downe to iudgement AdaÌ„ lyued to Mathusalem Mathusalem to Sem Sem to Iacob Iacob to AmraÌ„ Amram to AhiaÌ„ the Silonite Ahias to Elias which was traÌ„slated These coÌ„iectures also vsed IoaÌ„ picus Meradulane in y e yere of our Lord â—â— ccc lxxxvi did put vp this one amoÌ„g hys disputable 90. conclusions sayng yf there be any humane coniecture of y â— last tyme we may serche and fynde it by the muste secrete way of Cabbalist the end of the world to come hense of 514. yeres Netheles for right gret causes as we haue sayd to fore we coniecture that the sixt millenarie shall not be fulfylled For as in the lawe the sixt daye was not hole graunted to worke therein to the full end as to the midnyght but a good part therof was anticipated and cut of added to the Sabboth daye euen so shall not the sixt
The coniectures of the ende of the worlde translated by George Ioye Marke xij ¶ Be ye awake for ye knowe not when the Lorde of the house shall come lest he commeth sodenly and fynde you sleapers M. D. Xâ—viij ¶ George Ioye to the Readers wysheth knowledge and repentaunce SYthe al vnrea sonable creatures so greatly long wyth groning syghes as Paule sayth vnable to be expressed desyer to see the day of theyr redemptyon wherein they shuld be losed from theyr present seruitute wherewith man yet abuseth and holdeth them as the dronkardes abuse the wyne glotons the beastes foules fysshes corne and all maner frutes the vnthankefull all maner gyftes and creatures of God the Idolaters abu se the sonne mone starres stones trees and the supersticiouse the water fyer c. And the blasphemouse swerers the sayntes in heauen God and hys creatures muche more do the electe childreÌ„ of God here abused oppressed persecuted slain of the vngodly long syghe and sorrowe â—riynge oute with the soules vnder the altare for the gloriouse daye of the redeÌ„p cion of oure bodies Yea and to knowe the sygnes and coniectures immediatlie coming before it that we myght in tyme lyft vp oure heades awake oute of oure beastly and synfull lyuinge gladly to come forth wyth our bryght laÌ„pes to meet our brydegrome And they that yet of ignoraunce haue ben captyued and abused of y e abhominable beast of Rome might also now in time forsake her and flye far out of Babylon into Christes churche And for asmuch as this boke treateth of the signes and coniectures that go befo re the ende of this world wherof some be paste some are present some are yet shortely to come and do tell vs certainly the tyme of the fall of the Antichriste of Rome and laste ende of thys myserable synfull worlde layd in so darke Prophecyes noumbers of dayes tymes yeares in Daniell and in the Apocalipse which euery man except he be indurated w t the Rome Churche wold be desyerous to knowe and to prepare hymself I haue made thys latyne boke of that godly and lerned man Andrew Oseander to speake Englysh that ye myght counforte your selues by readyng y e diuine mysteries warninges conteyned herein And becau se as euery man knoweth experte artifi cers by their diligent exercyse and continuall labours wyll excell amende beter the beutye of their former workes and as sayth Cicero our later cogitacions are better then oure fyrste yea and as Daniell affirmeth The oftener hys boke be reuolued and diligently studyed the more lernyng is there foundin it kno weledge is encreased And to be shorte Because I wolde with the confession of my faithe profyte and counfort the congregacions of Christe we are all borne to profyte oure bretheren lo here haste thou ientle reader a cleare brief exposicion of the moste harde places and hide misteryes in Daniell Paule and Apocalyps concernyng thys last monarchy of Rome the descripcyon and lyuely picture of that Antichristen horned whore of her fall and ende of thys world short lye to come Thys therfore reade and vse it to thencrease of thy knoweledge and counfort to the profyte of other and prayse and glorye of God the father thorow Christe in his comyng Who be thanked and magnyfyed for euer So be it â–ª AMEN M. D. Xlviij In Maye printed â— The coniectures of the last dayes end of the worlde gathered out of scriptures by Andrewe Oseander and translated by George Ioye ALthough oure Lorde Iesus Christ as witnesseth Mat. hathe most clearlye proâ—ouÌ„ced y t the daye howr whe rein himselfe shal returne to iudge y e quick dead of no mortal maÌ„ to be knoweÌ„ No not of thâ—â—igels but to be left only in y e pleasure of God the father yet think I y t the very christiaÌ„s broughte vp lerned in y e holy scriptures may by some certayn coÌ„iectures gathered oute of Gods worde of hys workes not only come to y e forsight of y t same tyme as it were coÌ„preheÌ„de within certaiÌ„ limites but also I iudge y t we ought to endeuour our selues to studye to attâ—yne therevnto For our Lorde sayde not that worlde or that age or that yeare of hys comminge of noman to be knowne but onely the day and hower no man to knowe them For verely by the most apt similitude to serche it out dyd he louingly prouoke vs bothe to obserue wayte for that same tyme yea and in a maner compelled vs so to do Wherfor he sayd when I begynne to do these thynges then loke vp and lyft vp youre heades sor then draweth nyghe pâ—ure libertye redempcyon And euen of the fygge tree lerne the similitude whose braunches when they begyn to be softe and tender and thruste forth their knops and leaues then knowe ye that Somer is nyghe And eueâ— so when ye see all these tokeÌ„s and thinges told you before in doyng then be ye sure that the kyngdom of God is at hande By this and such lyke warninges hath he not only of the state of thinges to come as though they were present committed and geuen to the com mon people to coniecture of the last tyme but also the wyser and better lerned hath he meruelously gyuen occasion long before to serche out to fore see this desyred last tyme. For as the tylmeÌ„ by y e buddig of y t trees knowe somer to drawe nyghe and the astronomers by the mouing of y â— starres can diffyne the springyng tyme pronosticate it long before euen so ought we to decerne the ende of the worlde to drawe nyghe and the comyng of the sonne of man to be at hande by these sygnes shewed vs of Christ of hys comynge the lerned in holy scripture to signifye it long before the courses of tymes and the ages which all the sygnes be suer to come yea and to coniecture thesame tryed out of the secret misteryes of the worde Which thig sith it be so I haue diligeÌ„tly consydered and noted certayn excellente saynges and dedes properly and specyal ly pertainyng to this mater whiche by the waye were offred to me readyng the scriptures and thus haue I commended to memorye these coniectures of the ende of the worlde taken out of the holye letters of the which coniectures many I haue communicated pryuately in wrytâ—yng to my familyar freÌ„des which wheÌ„ they were desyered of so many and now spred abrode I sawe that it was perell lest any foolyshardy shuld mixe w t these my coniectures any thynge of hys own and so vnder my name to thrust them into other mennes handes I not knowing which thyng to auoyde I reuoked into my handes myne owne wrytinges litle then though they were and mended theÌ„ in some places iâ—â—ome I so enlarged them that they thus printed mighte do my brethereÌ„ pleasure And lest hereafter they might be perehaunce by some falsifyers corrupted I thought mi self
distributed into x. consularye empires y t the Monarchie of TheÌ„perours stode in it y t she more then ccc yeares most cruelly impugned the christen religion for y â— was she dampned of God in the heanenly iudgement at last extincte All thys I saye hole together was in doing and done by tyme and tymes by halfe a tyme Trew it is that this forme of speche signifyeth iij. yeares an half Nethe les not without a cause did the aungell separate theÌ„ For the Hebrues tell theyr yeares not by the sunne but by the mone out of the. xij monethes that is standyng of ccc liiij dayes which dayes not withstandyng in Februarye when the leap yeare cometh in the thyrd or fourthe yeare they restore to the sonne yeres Also nether one nor two yeares admit anye leap yere daye wherfore he will them to be vnderstanden without the leape moneth that is to saye of m. cc. xxxix dayes or there aboute for so many dayes be in thre yeres and an half But Da. in suche maner misteryes vseth not our common dayes and yeres but aungels dayes and yeares as we haue shewed it at large in the iij. coniecture wherof there is a verye euident profe in the ende of the xij Chap. of Da. where one aungell asketh of another how long shal it be to y â— end of these meruelous thinges which swering by y e eternall liuig God answereth saiyng vn to the time of times an halfe For in no wyse is it red in y t place time times an half as haue our coÌ„mon bokes but as we interprete it Thys is therfore the mynd of the Aungel That froÌ„ the third yere of Cyrus vnto the eude of all those meruellouse thinges which were reueled to him in that visyon euen vnto Christe whiche anone after these meruelles were ended shuld come there shuld bepast ouer the tyme of tymes and an halfe that is to say the yeare of yeares an half y t is an Aungels yere and an half which con teyneth of oure comon yeres D. xxxn. yf we beholde the mone yeres for it is the yeare of yeares which standeth not vpoÌ„ ccc liiij dayes but of so many of oure comon yeres Certayn it is out of Ptolome fro the beginnyng of the reygne of Nebuchaâ—nezar whome he calleth Nabopollassar vnto the byrth of Christe to haue had passed ouer cccccc xxv almoste of oure yeares out of which yf thou taketh xix before the destruccyon of Ierusalem and the lxx of the captiuitie and the iij. fyrst yeres of Cyrus there shalbe lefte D. xxxij and a fewe monethes whiche iustly make the tyme of tymes the half tyme that is an Aungels yeare and an halfe For asmuch then as it is playne Daniell in suche misteryes to be expressed to vse Aungels dayes and yeares contrariwyse when he meaneth our com mon yeares and tyme brought into dayes he vseth to adde the mornyng and eue nyng that we shuld not take them for the Aungels dayes nor tyme there is no doubt but that in thys place also it behoueth it to be vnderstanden of the Aungels yeares Namely when out of the for so the saing of Rhomulus it was pronostickt of Vectio that noble forsoth sayer that because the citie of Rome had passed euer prosperouslye her cxx yeares she shulde come to M. cc. yeares Wherfore it is the mynde of Daniell that the citie of Rome vnder the monarchye of themperours shuld persecute the churche of the lyuinge God and to beare dominati on vntyll she had accomplyshed in aungels yeris and an halfe of her age that is to saye almost M. cc. xl of oure yeris whiche thynge we see it in dede iustlye fulfylled For about the yeare from the buyldinge of Rome c. lxx the imperiall Maiestie was traÌ„slated fro Rome to CoÌ„ stantinople And yf Rome had thenceforth any Emperours west fro Constan tinople yet dyd theyr originall and auto rite depende of the Constantinople imperye Nowe was Rome then lyke no li uely body which shuld gouerne herfelf but as a deade kaâ—kas of whose corps burial other men had the gouernaunce cure After these about y â— yere of her buyl dyng m. c. lxiiij of y â— Gotes brought thether of Alaricho was she taken spoyled brent And afterward about the yere M. cc. viij of Gâ—nserycho was she taken agayn spuyled And at laste in the yeare of y â— citie M. cc. xxix the reste left in the myserable Rome citie were brought into so great calamitie and contempt y t when Augustulus was then slayn she was no more worthy to haue not so muche as a Lorde that is any welte Emperour For thus far of was she now to haue any dominion Emperiall ouer other after her olde maner And this was now her extre me and laste fatall destyned ende or rather an vtter dissipacion or skateryng awaye of her memoryall and as it were the strewynge abroade of the ashes of y â— citie of Rome and of her former dominacyon as it was prophecyed of Daniell Da. And the iudgement was sette â—si That is so longe were they in this condempnacyon in the iudgement of God as were the holy sayntes oppressed and persecuted of this horne Da. That theyr power might betakeÌ„ away â—si That is the power of this fourth beast Da. And be all to broken and destroid to perish into the ende â—si That is vtterly without any helpe to perysh Da. But the king doÌ„ and power and the amplitude therof vuder al the heuen shalbe geuen to y â— peple of the most hyghe holy ons whose raygne is euerlasting and al â—ynges shal ser ue and obeye hym â—si These are declared afore Da. Hitherto is the ende of this matter â—si Hitherto is it treated spoken of the former dominion of Rome which after Daniell durâ—d iij. Aungels yeres and an halfe euen after theyr owne prophecye of the same citie from her fyrste buyldyng M. cc. which is almost all one space Nowe let vs treate of the later dominacion of Rome out of the Apocal. of Pau. And as tofore wher nede is wil we vse lyke interlocucion And here christen reder I wold y u shuldest first coÌ„sider how great and earnest was sathans subtyle crafty deceytfull wylynes who when he perceyued this former dominacyon of Rome now to be vtterlye subuerted he studyed diligently to paynt forth and to set vp long before whyles the tother yet endured another dominacyon of the same citie yea and that farr worse then the former And he dyd so garnysh it that be fore thys formar was vtterly fallen and expyred this later domiyacyon shuld be euen then almost rype in all wickednes by the Popis and be waxen stronge enough in all Idolatry supersticion false religion and al mischief For when that former dominacioÌ„ of the Rom. citie was yet valeant in strength and armour this later dominacyon toke encreace began