Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 26:1 | There came a derth in the londe, passynge the other that was in Abrahams tyme. And Isaac wente to Gerar, vnto Abimelech the kynge of ye Philistynes. |
| 26:2 | Then the LORDE appeared vnto him, and sayde: Go not downe in to Egipte, but tary in the lande that I shall saye vnto the. |
| 26:3 | Be thou a strauger in this lande, and I wil be with the and blesse the. For vnto the and thy sede wyll I geue all this londe, and wyll perfourme myne ooth that I sware to thy father Abraham. |
| 26:4 | And I wyll multiplye thy sede as the starres of heauen, and vnto thy sede wyll I geue all this londe, and thorow thy sede shall all nacions be blessed, |
| 26:5 | because Abraham was obedient vnto my voyce, and kepte myne ordinaunces, my comaundementes, my statutes, and my lawes. |
| 26:6 | So Isaac dwelt at Gerar. |
| 26:7 | And whan the men of the same place axed him of his wife, he sayde: she is my sister. For he was afrayed to saye: she is my wife, (thinkinge thus:) they might slaye me for Rebeccas sake, for she was beutifull to loke vnto. |
| 26:8 | Now whan he had bene there a longe season, Abimelech the kynge of the Phylistynes loked out at a wyndow, and sawe Isaac sportinge with Rebecca his wife. |
| 26:9 | Then Abimelech called Isaac, and sayde: Beholde, she is thy wyfe, why saydest thou then: She is my sister? Isaac answered him: I thought, I might peraduenture hahe died because of her. |
| 26:10 | Abimelech saide: Why hast thou then done this vnto vs? It coude lightly haue come to passe, that some of the people might haue lyen with thy wyfe, and so haddest thou brought synne vpo vs. |
| 26:11 | The Abimelech commaunded all the people, and sayde: Who so toucheth this man or his wyfe, shal dye the death. |
| 26:12 | And Isaac sowed in that londe, and foude the same yeare an hundreth busshels, for the LORDE blessed him. |
| 26:13 | And he became a greate man, wente forth, and grew, tyll he was exceadinge greate, |
| 26:14 | so that he had moch good in shepe and greate catell, and a greate housholde. Therfore had the Philistynes envye at him, |
| 26:15 | and stopped all the welles, that his fathers seruauntes had dygged in the tyme of Abraham his father, and fylled them with earth, |
| 26:16 | In so moch that Abimelech also himself sayde vnto him: Departe from vs, for thou art farre mightier then we. |
| 26:17 | Then departed Isaac from thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. |
| 26:18 | And whan he was satled, he caused to dygge vp the welles agayne, that they had dygged vp in his father Abrahas tyme, which the Philistynes had stopte after the death of Abraham, and he called the after ye same names that his father had named them withall. |
| 26:19 | Isaacs seruauntes also dygged in the valley, and there they founde a well of lyuinge water. |
| 26:20 | But the hyrdmen of Gerar stroue with Isaacs hyrdmen, and saide: The water is oures. Then called he the well Eseck, because they had done him wronge. |
| 26:21 | Then dygged they another well, and stroue for that also: therfore called he it Sytena. |
| 26:22 | So he gatt him from thence, and dygged another well, for the which they stroue not: th rfore he called it Rehoboth, and sayde: Now hath the LORDE made vs rowme, and letten vs growe in the londe. |
| 26:23 | Afterwarde he departed thence vnto Berseba. |
| 26:24 | And the LORDE appeared vnto him the same night, and sayde: I am the God of thy father Abraham, feare thou not, for I am with the, and wyll blesse the, and multiplye thy sede for my seruaunt Abrahams sake. |
| 26:25 | Then buylded he an altare there, and called vpon the name of the LORDE, and pitched his tent there, and there his seruauntes dygged a well. |
| 26:26 | And Abimelech wente vnto him from Gerar, and Ahusath his frende, and Phicolhis chefe captayne. |
| 26:27 | But Isaac sayde vnto them: Wherfore come ye to me? seynge ye hate me, and haue put me awaye from you? |
| 26:28 | They sayde: We se with open eyes, that the LORDE is with the, therfore we deuysed that there shulde be an ooth betwixte vs and the, and that we wolde make a bonde with the, |
| 26:29 | that thou do vs no harme, like as we haue not hurte the, and as we haue done nothinge vnto the, but all good, and let the departe in peace. As for the, thou art ye blessed of the LORDE. |
| 26:30 | Then Isaac made them a feast, and they ate and dronke. |
| 26:31 | And on the morow they arose, and sware one to the other. And Isaac let them go, and they departed from him in peace. |
| 26:32 | The same daye came Isaacs seruauntes, and tolde him of the well that they had digged, and sayde vnto him: We haue founde water. |
| 26:33 | And he called it Saba. Therfore is ye cite called Bersaba vnto this daye. |
| 26:34 | Whan Esau was fourtye yeare olde, he toke wyues: Iudith the doughter of Beri the Hethite, and Basmath the doughter of Elon the Hethite: |
| 26:35 | both these were dishobedient vnto the sprete of Isaac and Rebecca. |
Coverdale Bible 1535
The Coverdale Bible, compiled by Myles Coverdale and published in 1535, was the first complete English translation of the Bible to contain both the Old and New Testament and translated from the original Hebrew and Greek. The later editions (folio and quarto) published in 1539 were the first complete Bibles printed in England. The 1539 folio edition carried the royal license and was, therefore, the first officially approved Bible translation in English.
Tyndale never had the satisfaction of completing his English Bible; but during his imprisonment, he may have learned that a complete translation, based largely upon his own, had actually been produced. The credit for this achievement, the first complete printed English Bible, is due to Miles Coverdale (1488-1569), afterward bishop of Exeter (1551-1553).
The details of its production are obscure. Coverdale met Tyndale in Hamburg, Germany in 1529, and is said to have assisted him in the translation of the Pentateuch. His own work was done under the patronage of Oliver Cromwell, who was anxious for the publication of an English Bible; and it was no doubt forwarded by the action of Convocation, which, under Archbishop Cranmer's leading, had petitioned in 1534 for the undertaking of such a work.
Coverdale's Bible was probably printed by Froschover in Zurich, Switzerland and was published at the end of 1535, with a dedication to Henry VIII. By this time, the conditions were more favorable to a Protestant Bible than they had been in 1525. Henry had finally broken with the Pope and had committed himself to the principle of an English Bible. Coverdale's work was accordingly tolerated by authority, and when the second edition of it appeared in 1537 (printed by an English printer, Nycolson of Southwark), it bore on its title-page the words, "Set forth with the King's most gracious license." In licensing Coverdale's translation, King Henry probably did not know how far he was sanctioning the work of Tyndale, which he had previously condemned.
In the New Testament, in particular, Tyndale's version is the basis of Coverdale's, and to a somewhat less extent this is also the case in the Pentateuch and Jonah; but Coverdale revised the work of his predecessor with the help of the Zurich German Bible of Zwingli and others (1524-1529), a Latin version by Pagninus, the Vulgate, and Luther. In his preface, he explicitly disclaims originality as a translator, and there is no sign that he made any noticeable use of the Greek and Hebrew; but he used the available Latin, German, and English versions with judgment. In the parts of the Old Testament which Tyndale had not published he appears to have translated mainly from the Zurich Bible. [Coverdale's Bible of 1535 was reprinted by Bagster, 1838.]
In one respect Coverdale's Bible was groundbreaking, namely, in the arrangement of the books of the. It is to Tyndale's example, no doubt, that the action of Coverdale is due. His Bible is divided into six parts -- (1) Pentateuch; (2) Joshua -- Esther; (3) Job -- "Solomon's Balettes" (i.e. Canticles); (4) Prophets; (5) "Apocrypha, the books and treatises which among the fathers of old are not reckoned to be of like authority with the other books of the Bible, neither are they found in the canon of the Hebrew"; (6) the New Testament. This represents the view generally taken by the Reformers, both in Germany and in England, and so far as concerns the English Bible, Coverdale's example was decisive.