Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 31:1 | Woe vnto them that goe downe into Egypt for helpe, and stay vpon horses, and trust in charets, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they be very strong: but they looke not vnto the holy one of Israel, nor seeke vnto the Lord. |
| 31:2 | But he yet is wisest: therefore he wil bring euill, and not turne backe his worde, but he will arise against the house of the wicked, and against the helpe of them that worke vanitie. |
| 31:3 | Now the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirite: and when the Lord shall stretch out his hand, the helper shall fall, and hee that is holpen shall fall, and they shall altogether faile. |
| 31:4 | For thus hath the Lord spoken vnto me, As the lyon or lyons whelpe roareth vpon his praye, against whom if a multitude of shepheards be called, hee will not be afraide at their voyce, neither will humble him selfe at their noise: so shall the Lord of hostes come downe to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. |
| 31:5 | As birds that flie, so shall the Lord of hostes defend Ierusalem by defending and deliuering, by passing through and preseruing it. |
| 31:6 | O ye children of Israel, turne againe, in as much as ye are sunken deepe in rebellion. |
| 31:7 | For in that day euery man shall cast out his idoles of siluer, and his idoles of golde, which your handes haue made you, euen a sinne. |
| 31:8 | Then shall Asshur fall by the sworde, not of man, neither shall the sworde of man deuoure him, and hee shall flee from the sworde, and his yong men shall faint. |
| 31:9 | And he shall go for feare to his towre, and his princes shall be afraide of the standart, sayeth the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his fornace in Ierusalem. |
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
The Geneva Bible is one of the most influential and historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. The language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous and because of this, most readers strongly preferred this version at the time.
The Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars who, fleeing from the reign of Queen Mary, had found refuge in Switzerland. During the reign of Queen Mary, no Bibles were printed in England, the English Bible was no longer used in churches and English Bibles already in churches were removed and burned. Mary was determined to return Britain to Roman Catholicism.
The first English Protestant to die during Mary's turbulent reign was John Rogers in 1555, who had been the editor of the Matthews Bible. At this time, hundreds of Protestants left England and headed for Geneva, a city which under the leadership of Calvin, had become the intellectual and spiritual capital of European Protestants.
One of these exiles was William Whittingham, a fellow of Christ Church at Oxford University, who had been a diplomat, a courtier, was much traveled and skilled in many languages including Greek and Hebrew. He eventually succeeded John Knox as the minister of the English congregation in Geneva. Whittingham went on to publish the 1560 Geneva Bible.
This version is significant because, it came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids, which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features, all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.