Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 11:1 | Nowe the Apostles and the brethren that were in Iudea, heard, that the Gentiles had also receiued the worde of God. |
| 11:2 | And when Peter was come vp to Hierusalem, they of the circumcision contended against him, |
| 11:3 | Saying, Thou wentest in to men vncircumcised, and hast eaten with them. |
| 11:4 | Then Peter beganne, and expounded the thing in order to them, saying, |
| 11:5 | I was in the citie of Ioppa, praying, and in a trance I sawe this vision, A certaine vessell comming downe as it had bene a great sheete, let downe from heauen by the foure corners, and it came to me. |
| 11:6 | Towarde the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and sawe foure footed beastes of the earth, and wilde beastes, and creeping things, and foules of the heauen. |
| 11:7 | Also I heard a voyce, saying vnto me, Arise, Peter: slay and eate. |
| 11:8 | And I said, God forbid, Lord: for nothing polluted or vncleane hath at any time entred into my mouth. |
| 11:9 | But the voyce answered me the seconde time from heauen, The things that God hath purified, pollute thou not. |
| 11:10 | And this was done three times, and all were taken vp againe into heauen. |
| 11:11 | Then behold, immediatly there were three men already come vnto the house where I was, sent from Cesarea vnto me. |
| 11:12 | And the Spirit saide vnto me, that I should go with them, without doubting: moreouer these sixe brethren came with me, and we entred into the mans house. |
| 11:13 | And he shewed vs, howe he had seene an Angel in his house, which stoode and said to him, Send men to Ioppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter. |
| 11:14 | He shall speake wordes vnto thee, whereby both thou and all thine house shalbe saued. |
| 11:15 | And as I began to speake, the holy Ghost fell on them, euen as vpon vs at the beginning. |
| 11:16 | Then I remembred the word of the Lord, howe he said, Iohn baptized with water, but ye shalbe baptized with the holy Ghost. |
| 11:17 | For as much then as God gaue them a like gift, as he did vnto vs, when we beleeued in the Lord Iesus Christ, who was I, that I coulde let God? |
| 11:18 | When they heard these things, they helde their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles graunted repentance vnto life. |
| 11:19 | And they which were scattered abroade because of the affliction that arose about Steuen, went throughout till they came vnto Phenice and Cyprus, and Antiochia, preaching the worde to no man, but vnto the Iewes onely. |
| 11:20 | Now some of them were men of Cyprus and of Cyrene, which when they were come into Antiochia, spake vnto the Grecians, and preached the Lord Iesus. |
| 11:21 | And the hand of the Lord was with them, so that a great number beleeued and turned vnto the Lord. |
| 11:22 | Then tydings of those things came vnto the eares of the Church, which was in Hierusalem, and they sent foorth Barnabas, that he should goe vnto Antiochia. |
| 11:23 | Who when he was come and had seene the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted all, that with purpose of heart they would continue in the Lord. |
| 11:24 | For he was a good man, and full of the holy Ghost, and faith, and much people ioyned them selues vnto the Lord. |
| 11:25 | Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus to seeke Saul: |
| 11:26 | And when he had founde him, he brought him vnto Antiochia: and it came to passe that a whole yere they were conuersant with ye Church, and taught much people, in so much that the disciples were first called Christians in Antiochia. |
| 11:27 | In those dayes also came Prophets from Hierusalem vnto Antiochia. |
| 11:28 | And there stoode vp one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit, that there should be great famine throughout all the world, which also came to passe vnder Claudius Cesar. |
| 11:29 | Then the disciples, euery man according to his ability, purposed to sende succour vnto the brethren which dwelt in Iudea. |
| 11:30 | Which thing they also did, and sent it to the Elders, by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. |
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.