Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 46:1 | Bel is bowed downe: Nebo is fallen: their idoles were vpon the beastes, and vpon the cattell: they which did beare you, were laden with a wearie burden. |
| 46:2 | They are bowed downe, and fallen together: for they coulde not rid them of the burden, and their soule is gone into captiuitie. |
| 46:3 | Heare ye me, O house of Iaakob, and all that remaine of the house of Israel, which are borne of me from the wombe, and brought vp of me from the birth. |
| 46:4 | Therefore vnto olde age, I the same, euen I will beare you vntill the hoare heares: I haue made you: I will also beare you, and I will cary you and I will deliuer you. |
| 46:5 | To whom will ye make me like or make me equall, or copare me, that I should be like him? |
| 46:6 | They draw gold out of the bagge and weigh siluer in the balance, and hire a goldsmith to make a god of it, and they bowe downe, and worship it. |
| 46:7 | They beare it vpon the shoulders: they carie him and set him in his place: so doeth he stand, and cannot remoue from his place. Though one crie vnto him, yet can he not answere, nor deliuer him out of his tribulation. |
| 46:8 | Remember this, and be ashamed: bring it againe to minde, O you transgressers. |
| 46:9 | Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none other God, and there is nothing like me, |
| 46:10 | Which declare the last thing from the beginning: and from of olde, the things that were not done, saying, My counsell shall stand, and I will doe whatsoeuer I will. |
| 46:11 | I call a birde from the East, and the man of my counsell from farre: as I haue spoken, so will I bring it to passe: I haue purposed it, and I will doe it. |
| 46:12 | Heare me, ye stubburne hearted, that are farre from iustice. |
| 46:13 | I bring neere my iustice: it shall not be farre off, and my saluation shall not tarie: for I wil giue saluation in Zion, and my glory vnto Israel. |
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.