Book II, 1: To Almighty GOD

LORD, Thou requir'st the first of all our Time,
The first of all our Actions, and the prime
Of all our Thoughts; And, Lord, good reason, we,
When Thou giv'st all, should give the First to Thee:
But O, we often rob thee of thy due,
Like Elies Children, whom thy vengeance slue:
We pinch thy Offring to enlarge our Fee;
We keepe the Fat, and carve the Leane to thee:
We thrust our three-tooth'd Flesh-hook in thy Pot,
That only, what the Flesh-hook taketh not,
We share to thee: Lord, we are still deceiving;
We take the Prime, and feed thee with our leaving:
Our Sluttish Bowles are cream'd with soile & filth,
Our Wheat is full of Chaffe; of Tares, our Tilth:
Lord, what in Flesh and Blood can there be had,
That's worth the having, when the best is bad,
Here's nothing good, unlesse thou please to make it;
O, then, if ought be worth the taking, take it.