[Linenotes: 4993-4 _haþ_--MS. haþe 4993 _þe_ (2)--to 4994 _þat_--the tyme 4997 _a[l]þoughe_--al-thogh [_it_]--from C. 4999 _worlde_--world 5001 _swiche_--swych 5002 _eterne_--from C., MS. eternite 5003 _life_--lyf 5004-5-6 _haþ_--MS. haþe 5006 _ydon_--MS. ydone, C. I-doon 5007 _alle_--al 5008-9 _nat_--nawht 5010 _þilk[e]_--thilke _or_--{and} 5014 _by_--be 5016 _semid[e]_--semede 5017 _worlde_--world _had[de]_--hadde 5018 _haue_--han 5019-20 _worlde_--world 5022 _yladd_--MS. yladde, C. I-lad 5023 _worlde_--world 5024 _embracen_--enbrace _alle_--al _presence to_--p{re}sent of 5025 _clere_--cleer] [Headnote: GOD IS ETERNAL.] [Sidenote: and since it cannot copy nor equal it from an immovable and simply present state, it passes into motion and into an infinite measure of past and future time.] {and} so as it ne may nat contrefeten it ne feyne{n} it ne ben euene lyke to it. for þe inmoeueablete. þat is 5032 to seyn þat is i{n} þe eternite of god. ¶ it faileþ {and} falleþ in to moeuynge fro þe simplicite of [the] p{re}sence of god. {and} disencresiþ to þe infinite quantite of fut{ur}e {and} of p{re}terit. [Sidenote: But since it cannot possess at once the whole extent of its duration, yet, as it never ceases wholly to be, it faintly emulates _that_ whose perfection it can neither attain nor express, by attaching itself to the present fleeting moment, which, because it resembles the durable present time, imparts to those things that partake of it an appearance of existence.] {and} so as it ne may nat han togidre 5036 al þe plente of þe lif. algates ȝitte for as moche as it ne cesiþ neuere forto ben in som manere it semeþ somde[l] to vs þat it folwiþ {and} resembliþ þilke þing þ{a}t it ne may nat attayne to. ne fulfille. {and} byndeþ it 5040 self to som manere p{re}sence of þis litel {and} swifte moment. þe whiche p{re}sence of þis lytele {and} swifte moment. for þat it bereþ a manere ymage or lykenesse of þe ay dwellynge p{re}sence of god. it graunteþ to 5044 swiche manere þinges as it bitidiþ to þat it semeþ hem þat þise þinges han ben {and} ben [Sidenote: But as it cannot stop or abide it pursues its course through infinite time, and by gliding along it continues its duration, the plenitude of which it could not comprehend, by abiding in a permanent state.] {and} for [þ{a}t] þe p{re}sence of swiche litel moment ne may nat dwelle þer-for [it] rauyssid[e] {and} took þe infinit[e] wey of tyme. þat 5048 is to seyn by successiou{n}. {and} by þis man{er}e it is ydon. for þat it sholde continue þe lif in goynge of þe whiche lif it ne myȝt[e] nat embrace þe plente in dwellynge.