not iudge theves to be vertused? for thay be of a
men moste stowte and hardy, and moste withowte feare; for thevery is a thynge moste vsua
emonge a
men, for not only yow that be here presente, but many other in dyuerse places, bothe men and wemen and chyldren, rytche and poore, are dayly of thys facultye, {95} as the hangman of tyboorne can testyfye: and that yt is allowed of god hym selfe, as it is euydente in many storayes of [the] scriptures; for yf yow looke in the hole cowrse of the byble, yow shall fynde that theves haue bene beloued of gode; for Iacobe, whan he came owte of Mesopotamia, dyd steale his vncle labanes kyddes; the same Iacobe also dyd steale his brothe[r] Esaues blessynge; and yett god sayde, “I haue chosen Iacobe and refused Esau.” The chyldren of ysrae
, whan they came owte of Egypte, dyd steale the egiptians iewelles of syluer and gowlde, as god commawnded them soo to doo. Davyd, in the days of Abiather the hygh preste, did cume into the temple and dyd steale the hallowed breede; and yet god saide, “Dauid is a ma