Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 49:1 | Herken vnto me, ye Iles, and take hede ye people from farre: The LORDE hath called me fro my byrth, and made mecion of my name fro my mothers wobe: |
| 49:2 | he hath made my mouth like a sharpe swerde, vnder ye shadowe of his honde hath he defended me, and hyd me in his quyuer, as a good arowe, |
| 49:3 | and sayde vnto me: Thou art my seruaunt Israel, I wilbe honoured in the. |
| 49:4 | Then answerde I: I shal lese my laboure, I shal spende my strength in vayne. Neuertheles, I wil commytte my cause and my worke vnto the LORDE my God. |
| 49:5 | And now saieth the LORDE (eue he that fashioned me fro my mothers wombe to be his seruaute, that I maye bringe Iacob agayne vnto him: howbeit, Israel will not be gathered vnto hi agayne. In whose sight I am greate, which also is my LORDE, my God and my stregth) |
| 49:6 | Let it be but a smal thinge, that thou art my seruaunt, to set vp the kinreddes of Iacob, & to restore the destructio of Israel: yf I make the not also the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my health vnto the ende of the worlde. |
| 49:7 | Morouer thus saieth the LORDE the aveger and holy one of Israel, because of the abhorringe and despisinge amonge the Gentiles, concernynge the seruaunt of all them yt beare rule: Kynges and prynces shal se, and arise and worshipe, because of the LORDE that he is faithfull: and because of the holy one of Israel, which hath chosen the. |
| 49:8 | And thus saieth the LORDE: In the tyme apoynted wil I be present with the. And in the houre of health wil I helpe the, & delyuer the. I wil make the a pledge for ye people, so yt thou shalt helpe vp the earth agayne, and chalenge agayne the scatred heretages: |
| 49:9 | That thou mayest saye to ye presoners: go forth, & to them that are in darknesse: come in to the light, that they maye fede in the hie wayes, & get their lyuynge in all places. |
| 49:10 | There shal nether hunger ner thurste, heate nor Sonne hurte them. For he that fauoureth them, shal lede them, and geue them drike of the springe welles. |
| 49:11 | I will make wayes vpon all my mountaynes, and my fote pathes shalbe exalted. |
| 49:12 | And beholde, they shal come from farre: lo, some from the north and west, some from the south. |
| 49:13 | Reioyse ye heauens, and synge prayses thou earth: Talke of ioye ye hilles, for God wil coforte his people, & haue mercy vpon his, yt be in trouble. |
| 49:14 | Then shal Sion saye: God hath forsaken me, and the LORDE hath forgotte me. |
| 49:15 | Doth a wife forget the childe of hir wombe, ad the sonne who she hath borne? And though she do forget, yet wil not I forget the. |
| 49:16 | Beholde, I haue written the vp vpon my hondes, thy walles are euer in my sight. |
| 49:17 | They that haue broken the downe, shal make haist to buylde the vp agayne: and they that made the waist, shal dwell in the. |
| 49:18 | Lift vp thine eyes, and loke aboute the: all these shal gather them together, and come to the. As truly as I lyue (saieth the LORDE) thou shalt put them all vpo the, as an apparell, and gyrde the to the, as a bryde doth hir Iewels. |
| 49:19 | As for thy londe that lieth desolate, waisted & destroyed: it shalbe to narow for the, that shal dwell in it. And they yt wolde deuoure the, shalbe farre awaye. |
| 49:20 | Then the childe who ye bare shall bringe forth vnto ye, shal saye in thine eare: this place is to narow, syt nye together, yt I maye haue rowme. |
| 49:21 | Then shalt thou thinke by thy self: Who hath begotte me these? seinge I am bare & aloe, a captyue & an outcast? And who hath norished the vp for me? I am desolate & alone, but fro whece come these? |
| 49:22 | And therfore thus saieth the LORDE God: Beholde, I will stretch out myne honde to the Gentiles, and set vp my token to the people. They shal bringe the thy sonnes in their lappes, & carie thy doughters vnto ye vpon their shulders. |
| 49:23 | For kinges shalbe thy noursinge fathers, and Quenes shalbe thy noursinge mothers. They shal fall before the wt their faces flat vpon the earth, and lick vp the dust of thy fete: that thou mayest knowe, how that I am the LORDE. And who so putteth his trust in me, shal not be confounded. |
| 49:24 | Who spoyleth the giaunte of his pray? or who taketh the presoner from the mightie? |
| 49:25 | And therfore thus saieth the LORDE: The prisoners shalbe taken from the giaunte, and the spoyle delyuered from the violete: for I wil maynteyne thy cause agaynst thine aduersaries, and saue thy sonnes. |
| 49:26 | And wil fede thine enemies with their owne fleshe, and make the drinke of their owne bloude, as of swete wyne. And all flesh shal knowe (o Iacob) that I am the LORDE thy Sauioure, and stronge auenger. |
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.