Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 6:1 | After, I beheld whe the Lambe had opened one of the seales, and I heard one of the foure beastes say, as it were the noise of thunder, Come and see. |
| 6:2 | Therefore I behelde, and loe, there was a white horse, and hee that sate on him, had a bowe, and a crowne was giuen vnto him, and he went forth conquering that he might ouercome. |
| 6:3 | And when he had opened the seconde seale, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. |
| 6:4 | And there went out an other horse, that was red, and power was giuen to him that sate thereon, to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another, and there was giuen vnto him a great sword. |
| 6:5 | And when hee had opened the thirde seale, I heard the thirde beast say, Come and see: Then I behelde, and loe, a blacke horse, and he that sate on him, had balances in his hand. |
| 6:6 | And I heard a voice in the mids of the foure beastes say, A measure of wheate for a penie, and three measures of barly for a peny, and oyle, and wine hurt thou not. |
| 6:7 | And when he had opened the fourth seale, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. |
| 6:8 | And I looked, and beholde, a pale horse, and his name that sate on him was Death, and Hell folowed after him, and power was giuen vnto them ouer the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sworde, and with hunger, and with death, and with beasts of the earth. |
| 6:9 | And when hee had opened the fifth seale, I sawe vnder the altar the soules of them, that were killed for the worde of God, and for the testimonie which they mainteined. |
| 6:10 | And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, Lord, which art holie and true! doest not thou iudge and auenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? |
| 6:11 | And long white robes were giuen vnto euery one, and it was saide vnto them, that they shoulde rest for a litle season vntill their fellow seruants, and their brethren that shoulde bee killed euen as they were, were fulfilled. |
| 6:12 | And I behelde when hee had opened the sixt seale, and loe, there was a great earthquake, and the sunne was as blacke as sackecloth of heare, and the moone was like blood. |
| 6:13 | And the starres of heauen fell vnto the earth, as a figge tree casteth her greene figges when it is shaken of a mightie winde. |
| 6:14 | And heauen departed away, as a scroule, when it is rolled, and euery mountaine and yle were mooued out of their places. |
| 6:15 | And the Kinges of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chiefe captaines, and the mighty men, and euery bondman, and euery free man, hid themselues in dennes, and among the rockes of the mountaines, |
| 6:16 | And said to the mountaines and rocks, Fal on vs, and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lambe. |
| 6:17 | For the great day of his wrath is come, and who can stand? |
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.