Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 59:1 | Beholde the LORDES honde is not so shortened yt it can not helpe, nether is his eare so stopped yt it maye not heare. |
| 59:2 | But yor my?dedes haue separated you from yor God, & yor synnes hyde his face from you, yt he heareth you not. |
| 59:3 | For yor hondes are defyled with bloude, and yor fyngers wt vnrighteousnesse: Yor lippes speake lesynges, & yor tonge setteth out wickednes. |
| 59:4 | No man regardeth righteousnes, & no ma iudgeth truly Euery man hopeth in vayne thinges, and ymagineth disceate, coceaueth weerynesse, & bringeth forth euell. |
| 59:5 | They brede cockatrice egges, & weeue ye spyders webb. Who so eateth of their egges, dieth. But yf one treade vpon the, there cometh vp a serpent. |
| 59:6 | Their webbe maketh no clothe, & they maye not couer the wt their labours. Their dedes are ye dedes of wickednes, & ye worke of robbery is in their hodes. |
| 59:7 | Their fete runne to euell, & they make haist to shed innocet bloude. Their coucels are wicked coucels, harme & destruccio are in their wayes. |
| 59:8 | But ye waye of peace they knowe not. In their goinges is no equyte, their wayes are so croked, yt who so euer goeth therin, knoweth nothinge of peace. |
| 59:9 | And this is ye cause yt equite is so farre fro vs, & yt rightuousnes cometh not nye vs. We loke for light, lo, it is darknesse: for ye mornynge shyne, se, we walke in ye darke. |
| 59:10 | We grope like ye blynde vpon ye wall, we grope euen as one yt hath none eyes. We stomble at ye noone daye, as though it were toward night: in ye fallinge places, like men yt are half deed. |
| 59:11 | We roare all like Beeres, & mourne stil like doues. We loke for equite, but there is none: for health, but it is farre fro vs. |
| 59:12 | For or offences are many before ye, & or synnes testifie agaynst vs. Yee we must cofesse yt we offende, & knowlege, yt we do amysse: |
| 59:13 | Namely, transgresse & dyssemble agaynst ye LORDE, & fall awaye fro or God: vsinge presuptuous & traytorous ymaginacions, & castinge false matters in or hertes. |
| 59:14 | And therfore is equyte gone asyde, & righteousnes stodeth farre of: treuth is fallen downe in the strete, and the thinge that is playne and open, maye not be shewed. |
| 59:15 | Yee ye treuth is lade in preson, and he that refrayneth himself fro euel, must be spoyled. When the LORDE sawe this, it displeased him sore, yt there was no where eny equite. |
| 59:16 | He sawe also, that there was no man, which had pitie therof, or was greued at it. And he helde him by his owne power, and cleued to his owne rightuousnes. |
| 59:17 | He put rightuousnes vpo him for a brest plate, & set the helmet of health vpo his heade. He put on wrath in steade of clothige, & toke gelousy aboute him for a cloke: |
| 59:18 | (like as when a man goeth forth wrothfully to recopence his enemies, & to be avenged of his aduersaries.) Namely, that he might recompence and rewarde the Ilodes, |
| 59:19 | wherthorow the name of the LORDE might be feared, from the risynge of the Sone: and his magesty, vnto the goinge downe of the same. For he shal come as a violent waterstreame, which the wynde of the LORDE hath moued. |
| 59:20 | But vnto Sion there shal come a redemer, and vnto them in Iacob that turne from wickednesse, saieth the LORDE. |
| 59:21 | I will make this conuenaunt with them (sayeth ye LORDE): My sprete that is come vpon the, & the wordes which I haue put in yi mouth, shal neuer go out of thy mouth, nor out of ye mouth of thy childre, no ner out of ye mouth of thy childers childre, from this tyme forth for euer more. |
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.