sired to know my opinion in such matters as were laid against me. He required me also in any wise boldly to utter the secrets of my heart, bidding O traitor me not to fear in any point. For what so ever I did say within his house, no man should hurt me for it. I answered, For so much as your Lordship appointed 3 of the clock, and my friends shall not come till that hour, I desire you to pardon me of giving answer till they come. John Bale. In this preventing 238 of the hour may the diligent reader perceive the greediness of this Babylon Bishop, or bloodthirsty wolf, concerning this prey. A tyrant. Swift are their feet (saith David) in the effusion of innocent blood, which have fraud in their tongues, venom in their lips, and most cruel vengeance in their mouths. Psal. 13.239 Da- [19v] 238 anticipating 239 Psalms 13:3 ‘omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt. Non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum. Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum; linguis suis dolose agebant. Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum. Quorum os maledictione et amaritudine plenum est; veloces pedes eorum ad effundendum sanguinem. Contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum, et viam pacis non cognoverunt; non est timor Dei ante oculos eorum.’ KJV uses the shorter Hebrew version in 14:3 ‘They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.’ Bale gets his additional imagery from the longer Vulgate verse which is echoed in the Douay Rheims 13:3 ‘They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.’ See also Vulgate Psalm 52 or KJV Psalm 53 for an almost identical reiteration; and Romans 3:12–16 in which Paul quotes this Psalm. The latter part of the sentence, in which the eating of bread is mentioned, alludes to the verse following this. 60 .