Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 36:1 | Eliu proceaded forth in his talkinge, & sayde: |
| 36:2 | holde the still a litle, and I shal shewe the, what I haue yet to speake on Gods behalfe. |
| 36:3 | I wil open vnto ye yet more of myne vnderstondinge, and proue my maker rightuous. |
| 36:4 | True are my wordes, & no lye: and the knowlege wherwithall I argue agaynst the, is perfecte. |
| 36:5 | Beholde, God casteth not awaye ye mightie, for he himselff is mightie in power and wisdome. |
| 36:6 | As for the vngodly, he preserueth the not but helpeth the poore to their right. |
| 36:7 | He turneth not his eyes awaye from the rightuous he setteth vp kynges in their Trone, and cofirmeth them, so that they allwaye syt therin. |
| 36:8 | But yf they be layed in preson and cheynes, or bounde with the bondes of pouerte: |
| 36:9 | then sheweth he them their workes ad dedes and the synnes wherwt they haue vsed cruell violence. |
| 36:10 | He with punyshinge and nurturinge off them, rowneth them in the eares, warneth them to leaue of from their wickednesse, and to amende. |
| 36:11 | Yf they now will take hede and be obedient, they shall weere out their dayes in prosperite, and their yeares in pleasure ad ioye. |
| 36:12 | But yff they will not obeye, they shall go thorow the swearde, & perish or euer they be awarre. |
| 36:13 | As for soch as be fayned, dyssemblers and ypocrytes, they heape vp wrath for them selues: for they call not vpon him, though they be his presoners. |
| 36:14 | Thus their soule perisheth in foolishnesse, and their lyfe wt ye condened. |
| 36:15 | The poore delyuereth he out of his straytnesse, and comforteth soch as be in necessite and trouble. |
| 36:16 | Euen so shall he kepe the (yf thou wilt be content) from the bottomlesse pytte that is beneth: & yf thou wilt holde the quyete, he shal fyll thy table with plenteousnesse. |
| 36:17 | Neuerthelesse, thou hast condemned the iudgment of the vngodly, yee euen soch a iudgment and sentence shalt thou suffre. |
| 36:18 | For then shal not thy cause be stilled with crueltie, ner pacified with many giftes. |
| 36:19 | Hath God ordened then, that the glorious life off the & all soch mightie men shulde not be put downe? |
| 36:20 | Prolonge not thou the tyme, till there come a night for the, to set other people in thy steade. |
| 36:21 | But bewarre that thou turne not asyde to wickednesse and synne, which hyther to thou hast chosen more then mekenesse. |
| 36:22 | Beholde, God is of a mightie hye power: Where is there soch a gyde and lawegeuer as he? |
| 36:23 | Who wil reproue him of his waye? who wil saye vnto him: thou hast done wronge? |
| 36:24 | O considre how greate and excellent his workes be, whom all men loaue and prayse: |
| 36:25 | yee wondre at him, and yet they se him but afarre of. |
| 36:26 | Beholde, so greate is God, that he passeth oure knowlege, nether are we able to come to ye experiece of his yeares. |
| 36:27 | He turneth ye water to smaldroppes, he dryueth his cloudes |
| 36:28 | together for to rayne, so that they poure downe and droppe vpon men. |
| 36:29 | He can sprede out the cloudes (a couerynge off his tabernacle) |
| 36:30 | and cause his light to shyne vpo them, and to couer the botome of the see. |
| 36:31 | By these thinges gouerneth he his people, and geueth the abundaunce of meate. |
| 36:32 | In ye turnynge of a hande he hydeth the light, & at his commaundement it commeth agayne. |
| 36:33 | The rysinge vp therof sheweth he to his frendes and to the catell. |
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.