Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 2:1 | We beseke you brethren by the commynge of or LORDE Iesus Christ, and in that we shal assemble vnto him, |
| 2:2 | that ye be not sodenly moued fro youre mynde, and be not troubled, nether by sprete, nether by wordes, ner yet by letter, which shulde seme to be sent from vs, as though ye daye of Christ were at hande. |
| 2:3 | Let noman disceaue you by eny meanes. For the LORDE commeth not, excepte the departynge come first, and that that Man of synne be opened, euen the sonne of perdicion, |
| 2:4 | which is an aduersary, and is exalted aboue all yt is called God or Gods seruyce, so that he sytteth as God in the temple of God, and boasteth himselfe to be God. |
| 2:5 | Remembre ye not, that whan I was yet with you, I tolde you these thinges? |
| 2:6 | And now ye knowe what witholdeth it, eue that it mighte be vttered at his tyme. |
| 2:7 | (For the mystery of the iniquyte worketh allready, tyll he which now onely letteth, be take out of the waye.) |
| 2:8 | And then shal that wicked be vttered, whom the LORDE shal cosume with ye sprete of his mouth, & shal destroye with the appearaunce of his commynge: |
| 2:9 | euen him, whose commynge is after the workynge of Sathan with all lyenge power, and signes and wonders, |
| 2:10 | and with all deceauablenes of vnrighteousnes amonge them that perishe, because they receaued not the loue of ye trueth, that they might haue bene saued. |
| 2:11 | Therfore shal God sende them stroge delusion, that they shulde beleue lyes, |
| 2:12 | yt all they might be daned, which beleued not the trueth, but had pleasure in vnrighteousnes. |
| 2:13 | But we are bounde to geue thankes allwaye vnto God for you, brethren be loued of the LORDE, because that God hath from the begynnynge chosen you to saluacion in the sanctifienge of the sprete and in beleuynge of the trueth, |
| 2:14 | whervnto he hath called you by oure Gospell, to optayne the glory of oure LORDE Iesus Christ. |
| 2:15 | Therfore brethren stonde fast, and kepe the ordinaunces which ye haue lerned, whether it were by oure preachinge or by epistle. |
| 2:16 | But oure LORDE Iesus Christ himselfe, and God oure father, which hath loued vs and geuen vs euerlastinge consolacion, and a good hope thorow grace, |
| 2:17 | comforte youre hertes, and stablysh you in all doctryne & good doynge. |
Coverdale Bible 1535
The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale and published in 1535, was the first complete English translation of the Bible to contain both the Old and New Testament and translated from the original Hebrew and Greek. The later editions (folio and quarto) published in 1539 were the first complete Bibles printed in England. The 1539 folio edition carried the royal license and was, therefore, the first officially approved Bible translation in English.
Tyndale never had the satisfaction of completing his English Bible; but during his imprisonment, he may have learned that a complete translation, based largely upon his own, had actually been produced. The credit for this achievement, the first complete printed English Bible, is due to Miles Coverdale (1488-1569), afterward bishop of Exeter (1551-1553).
The details of its production are obscure. Coverdale met Tyndale in Hamburg, Germany in 1529, and is said to have assisted him in the translation of the Pentateuch. His own work was done under the patronage of Oliver Cromwell, who was anxious for the publication of an English Bible; and it was no doubt forwarded by the action of Convocation, which, under Archbishop Cranmer's leading, had petitioned in 1534 for the undertaking of such a work.
Coverdale's Bible was probably printed by Froschover in Zurich, Switzerland and was published at the end of 1535, with a dedication to Henry VIII. By this time, the conditions were more favorable to a Protestant Bible than they had been in 1525. Henry had finally broken with the Pope and had committed himself to the principle of an English Bible. Coverdale's work was accordingly tolerated by authority, and when the second edition of it appeared in 1537 (printed by an English printer, Nycolson of Southwark), it bore on its title-page the words, "Set forth with the King's most gracious license." In licensing Coverdale's translation, King Henry probably did not know how far he was sanctioning the work of Tyndale, which he had previously condemned.
In the New Testament, in particular, Tyndale's version is the basis of Coverdale's, and to a somewhat less extent this is also the case in the Pentateuch and Jonah; but Coverdale revised the work of his predecessor with the help of the Zurich German Bible of Zwingli and others (1524-1529), a Latin version by Pagninus, the Vulgate, and Luther. In his preface, he explicitly disclaims originality as a translator, and there is no sign that he made any noticeable use of the Greek and Hebrew; but he used the available Latin, German, and English versions with judgment. In the parts of the Old Testament which Tyndale had not published he appears to have translated mainly from the Zurich Bible. [Coverdale's Bible of 1535 was reprinted by Bagster, 1838.]
In one respect Coverdale's Bible was groundbreaking, namely, in the arrangement of the books of the. It is to Tyndale's example, no doubt, that the action of Coverdale is due. His Bible is divided into six parts -- (1) Pentateuch; (2) Joshua -- Esther; (3) Job -- "Solomon's Balettes" (i.e. Canticles); (4) Prophets; (5) "Apocrypha, the books and treatises which among the fathers of old are not reckoned to be of like authority with the other books of the Bible, neither are they found in the canon of the Hebrew"; (6) the New Testament. This represents the view generally taken by the Reformers, both in Germany and in England, and so far as concerns the English Bible, Coverdale's example was decisive.