Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 1:1 | In the tyme of Ahasuerus, which reigned from India vnto Ethiopia, ouer an hundreth and seuen and twentye londes, |
| 1:2 | what tyme as he sat on his seate roiall in the castell of Susan |
| 1:3 | in the thirde yeare of his reigne, he made a feast vnto all his prynces and seruauntes, namely vnto the mightie men of Persia and Media, to the Debities and rulers of his countrees, |
| 1:4 | that he mighte shewe the noble riches of his kingdome, and the glorious worshippe of his greatnesse, many dayes longe, euen an hundreth and foure score dayes. |
| 1:5 | And whan these dayes were expyred, the kynge made a feast vnto all the people that were in the castell of Susan, both vnto greate and small, seuen dayes longe in the courte of the garden by the kynges palace: |
| 1:6 | where there hanged whyte, reed & yalow clothes, fastened with coardes of lynnen and scarlet in siluer rynges, vpon pylers of Marble stone. The benches were of golde and siluer made vpon a pauement of grene, white, yalowe and black Marble. |
| 1:7 | And ye drinke was caried in vessels of golde, and there was euer chaunge of vessell. And the kinges wine was moch acordynge to the power of the kynge. |
| 1:8 | And no man was appoynted what he shulde drinke: for the kynge had commaunded all the officers of his house, that euery one shulde do as it lyked him. |
| 1:9 | And the quene Vasthi made a feast also for the wemen in the palace of Ahasuerus. |
| 1:10 | And on the seuenth daye whan the kynge was mery of the wine, he comaunded Mehuman, Bistha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Sethar and Charcas, the seuen chamberlaynes (that dyd seruyce in the presence of kynge Ahasuerus) |
| 1:11 | to fetch the quene Vasthi with the crowne regall, that he might shewe ye people and prynces hir fairnesse: for she was bewtifull. |
| 1:12 | But the quene Vasthi wolde not come at the kynges worde by his chamberlaynes. Then was the kynge very wroth, and his indignacio kyndled in him. |
| 1:13 | And the kynge spake to ye wyse men that had vnderstondinge in the ordinaunces of the londe (for the kinges matters must be hadled before all soch as haue knowlege of the lawe and iudgment: |
| 1:14 | And the nexte vnto him were, Charsena, Sethar, Admatha, Tharsis, Meres, Marsena and Memuchan, the seuen prynces of the Persias, and Meedes, which sawe the kynges face, and satt aboue in the kyngdome) |
| 1:15 | What lawe shulde be execute vpon the quene Vasthi, because she dyd not acordynge to the worde of the kynge by his chamberlaines. |
| 1:16 | The saide Memucha before the kynge & the prynces: The quene Vasthi hath not onely done euell agaynst the kinge but also agaynst all the prynces and all the people in all the londes of kynge Ahasuerus |
| 1:17 | for this dede of the quene shall come abrode vnto all wemen, so that they shall despyse their hu?bandes before their eyes, and shall saye: The kynge Ahasuers comaunded Vasthi ye quene to come before him, but she wolde not. |
| 1:18 | And so shall the pryncesses in Persia and Media saye lykewyse vnto all the kynges prynces, whan they heare of this dede of the quene, thus shall there aryse despytefulnes and wrath ynough. |
| 1:19 | Yf it please the kynge, let there go a kyngly commaundemet from him, and let it be wrytten acordynge to the lawe of the Persians and Medians (and not to be transgressed) that Vasthi come nomore before kynge Ahasuerus, and let the kynge geue the kyngdome vnto another that is better then she. |
| 1:20 | And yt this wrytinge of the kynge which shalbe made, be published thorow out all his empyre (which is greate) that all wyues maye holde their hu?bandes in honoure, both amonge greate and smal. |
| 1:21 | This pleased the kynge and the prynces, and the kynge dyd acordynge to the worde of Memuchan. |
| 1:22 | Then were there letters sent forth in to all the kynges londes, in to euery londe acordinge to the wrytinge ther of, and to euery people after their laguage, yt euery man shulde be lorde in his awne house. And this caused he be spoken after the language of his people. |
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.