Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 2:1 | After these actes whan the displeasure of kynge Ahasuerus was layed, he thoughte vpon Vasthi, what she had done, and what was concluded concernynge her. |
| 2:2 | Then sayde the kynges seruauntes: Let there be fayre yonge virgins soughte for the kynge, |
| 2:3 | and let the kynge appoynte ouerseers in all ye londes of his empyre, that they maye brynge together all fayre yonge virgins vnto the castel of Susan to the Wemens buyldinge, vnder the hande of Hegai the kynges clamberlayne, that kepeth the wemen, and let him geue them their apparell. |
| 2:4 | And loke which damsell pleaseth the kynge, let her be quene in Vasthis steade. This pleased the kynge, and he dyd so. |
| 2:5 | In the castell of Susan there was a Iewe, whose name was Mardocheus, the sonne of Iair, the sonne of Simei, the sonne of Cis, the sonne of Iemini, |
| 2:6 | which was caried awaye from Ierusalem, whan Iechonias the kynge of Iuda was led awaye, (whom Nabuchodonosor the kynge of Babilon caried awaye) |
| 2:7 | and he norished Hadassa (that is Hester) his vncles danghter: for she had nether father ner mother, and she was a fayre and beutyfull damsell. And whan hir father and mother dyed, Mardocheus receaued her as his awne daughter. |
| 2:8 | Now whan ye kynges comaundemet and comyssion was published, & many dasels were broughte together vnto the castell of Susan vnder ye hande of Hegai, Hester, was take also vnto ye kynges house vnder ye hande of Hegai ye keper of ye weme, |
| 2:9 | & the damsell pleased him, & she founde grace in his sighte. And he put her wt hir maydes in ye best place of ye Womes buildige. |
| 2:10 | And Hester shewed it not vnto hir people & hir kynred: for Mardocheus had charged her, yt she shulde not tell it. |
| 2:11 | And Mardocheus walked euery daye before ye courte of ye Womes buyldinge, yt he might knowe how Hester dyd, and what shulde become of her. |
| 2:12 | And whan the appoynted tyme of euery damsell came that she shulde come to ye kynge Ahasuerus, after that she had bene twolue monethes in the deckynge of the wemen (for their deckynge must haue so moch tyme, namely sixe monethes with Balme & Myrre, & sixe monethes wt good spyces, so were the weme beutifyed) |
| 2:13 | then wente there one damsell vnto ye kynge, and what so euer she requyred, yt must be geue her to go wt her out of the Womens buyldinge vnto ye kynges palace. |
| 2:14 | And whan one came in the euenynge, ye same wete fro him on ye morow in to ye seconde house of wemen, vnder the hande of Saasgas the kynges chamberlayne, which kepte ye concubines. And she must come vnto the kynge nomore, excepte it pleased the kynge, and that he caused her to be called by name. |
| 2:15 | Now whan the tyme came of Hester the daughter of Abihail Mardocheus vncle (whom he had receaued as his awne daughter) yt she shulde come to the kynge, she desyred nothinge but what Hegai the kynges chamberlayne the keper of the wemen sayde. And Hester founde fauoure in the sighte of all them that loked vpon her. |
| 2:16 | And Hester was taken vnto kynge Ahasuerus in to the house royall, in the tenth moneth which is called Tebeth, in the seuenthe yeare of his reigne. |
| 2:17 | And the kynge loued Hester aboue all the wemen, and she founde grace and mercy in his sighte before all the virgins: and he set the quenes croune vpon hir heade, and made her quene in steade of Vasthi. |
| 2:18 | And the kynke made a greate feast vnto all his prynces and seruauntes (which feast was because of Hester) and let the londes be in quyetnes, & gaue royall giftes. |
| 2:19 | And whan the virgins were gathered together the seconde tyme, Mardocheus sat in the kynges gate. |
| 2:20 | And as yet had not Hester shewed hir kynred and hir people, acordinge as Mardocheus had bydden her: for Hester dyd after the worde of Mardocheus, like as whan he was hir tutoure. |
| 2:21 | At the same tyme whyle Mardocheus sat in the kynges gate, two of the kinges chamberlaynes, Bigthan and Theres which kepte the dore, were wroth, and sought to laye their handes on the kynge Ahasuerus: |
| 2:22 | Wherof Mardocheus gat knowlege, and tolde it vnto quene Hester, and Hester certified the kynge therof in Mardocheus name. |
| 2:23 | And whan inquisicion was made, it was founde so. And they were both hanged on tre: and it was wrytte in the Cronicles before the kynge. |
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.