Textus Receptus Bibles
The Great Bible 1539
| 12:1 | Doutles, it is not expedient for me to boast, I wyll come to visyons and reuelacions of the Lord, |
| 12:2 | I knowe a man in Christ aboue fourtene yeares ago (whyther he were in the body, I cannot tell, or whyther he were out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth) howe that he was taken vp into the thyrde heauen. |
| 12:3 | And I knowe the same man (whither in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth) |
| 12:4 | howe that he was taken vp into Paradyse, and hearde secret wordes, which no man can vtter. |
| 12:5 | Of thys man wyll I boast, but of my selfe wyll I not boast, except it be of myne infirmityes |
| 12:6 | For though I wolde boast, I shall not be a foole: for I wolde saye the trueth. Neuerthelesse, I spare you: lest any man shulde thinke of me, aboue that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. |
| 12:7 | And lest I shulde be exalted out of measure thorowe the excellencye of the reuelacions: there was gyuen vnto me vnquyetnes thorowe the flesshe, euen the messenger of Satan to buffet me, because I shulde not be exalted out of measure. |
| 12:8 | For this thynge besought I the Lorde thryse, that it might departe from me. |
| 12:9 | And he sayde vnto me: my grace is sufficient for the. For my strength is made parfect thorow weaknes. Uery gladly therfore wyll I reioyce of my weaknes, that the strength of Christ maye dwell in me. |
| 12:10 | Therfore, haue I delectacion in infirmityes, in rebukes, in necessities, in persecucyons, in anguysshes for Chrystes sake. For when I am weake, then am I stronge. |
| 12:11 | I am become a foole in boasting my selfe. Ye haue compelled me: for I ought to haue bene commended of you. For in nothynge was I inferior vnto the chefe apostles, though I be nothing, |
| 12:12 | yet the tokens of an apostle were wrought amonge you with all pacyence, and signes and wonders, and myghty dedes. |
| 12:13 | For what is it, wherin ye were inferyors vnto other congregacions, except it be herin, that I was not chargeable vnto you. Forgeue me thys wronge. |
| 12:14 | Beholde, nowe the thyrde tyme I am ready to come vnto you: and yet wyll I not be chargeable vnto you. For I seke not youres, but you. For the chyldren ought not to laye vp for the fathers and mothers, but the fathers and mothers for the chyldren. |
| 12:15 | I wyll very gladly bestowe, and wylbe bestowed for youre soules, though the more I loue you; the lesse I am loued agayn. |
| 12:16 | But be it, that I was not chargeable vnto you: neuertheles, when I was crafty, I toke you with gyle. |
| 12:17 | Dyd I pyll you by any of them, whom I sent vnto you? |
| 12:18 | I desyred Titus, & with hym I sent a brother. Dyd Titus defraude you of any thyng? walked we not in one sprete? Walked we not in lyke steppes? |
| 12:19 | Agayne, thynke you that we excuse our selues vnto you? we spake in Christ in the syght of of God: but we do all thinges (dearly beloued) for youre edifyinge. |
| 12:20 | For I feare, lest it come to passe, that yf I come, I shall not fynde you soch as I wolde: & that I shalbe founde vnto you soch as ye wolde not. I feare, lest ther be amonge you debates, enuyinges, wrath, stryfes, bakbytynges, whysperinges, swellynges, & sedicyons |
| 12:21 | And that when I come agayne, God brynge me lowe amonge you, and I be constrayned to bewayle many of them which haue synned allready, & haue not repented of the vncleanes, fornicacyon, and wantonnes, whiche they haue commytted. |
The Great Bible 1539
The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, working under commission of Thomas, Lord Cromwell, Secretary to Henry VIII and Vicar General. In 1538, Cromwell directed the clergy to provide "one book of the bible of the largest volume in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that ye have care of, whereas your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it."