Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 29:1 | This is the Copie of the lettre, yt Ieremy the prophet sent from Ierusalem vnto the presoners: the Senatours, prestes, prophetes, & all the people, whom Nabuchodonosor had led vnto Babilo: |
| 29:2 | after ye tyme yt kinge Iechonias & his Quene, his chambrelaynes, the prynces of Iuda & Ierusale & the workmasters of Ierusale were departed thither. |
| 29:3 | Which lettre, Elasa ye sonne of Sapha & Gamaria ye sonne of Helchia dyd beare, who Sedechias the kinge of Iuda sent vnto Babilo to Nabuchodonosor ye kinge of Babilo: these were ye wordes of Ieremias lettre: |
| 29:4 | Thus hath ye LORDE of hoostes ye God of Israel spoke, vnto all the presoners, yt were led fro Ierusale vnto Babilo: |
| 29:5 | Buylde you houses to dwell therein: plate you gardes, yt ye maye enioye the frutes thereof: |
| 29:6 | take you wyues, to beare you sonnes and doughters: prouyde wyues for youre sonnes, & hu?bondes for youre doughters: that they maye get sonnes & doughters, and that ye maye multiplie there. Laboure not to be fewe, |
| 29:7 | but seke after peace & prosperite of the cite, where in ye be presoners, & praye vnto God for it. For in the peace there of, shal yor peace be. |
| 29:8 | For thus saieth the LORDE of hoostes the God of Israel: Let not those prophetes and soythsaiers yt be amonge you, disceaue you: & beleue not youre owne dreames. |
| 29:9 | For why, they preach you lies in my name, & I haue not sent them, saieth the LORDE. |
| 29:10 | But thus saieth the LORDE: When ye haue fulfilled lxx yeares at Babilon, I wil bringe you home, and of myne owne goodnes I will carie you hither agayne vnto this place. |
| 29:11 | For I knowe, what I haue deuysed for you, saieth the LORDE. My thoughtes are to geue you peace, & not trouble (which I geue you all redie) & that ye might haue hope agayne. |
| 29:12 | Ye shall crie vnto me, ye shal go & call vpo me, & I shal heare you. |
| 29:13 | Ye shal seke me, & fynde me: Yee, yf so be that ye seke me with youre whole herte, |
| 29:14 | I will be founde of you (saieth the LORDE) and will delyuer you out of preson, & gather you together agayne out of all places, where in I haue scatred you, saieth the LORDE: and wil bringe you agayne to the same place, from whence I caused you be caried awaye captyue. |
| 29:15 | But where as ye saye, that God hath raysed you vp prophetes at Babilon: |
| 29:16 | Thus hath the LORDE spoken (concernynge the kinge that sytteth in the stole of Dauid, and all ye people that dwell in this cite, youre brethren that are not gone with you into captiuyte.) |
| 29:17 | Thus (I saye) speaketh the LORDE of hoostes: Beholde, I wil sende a swearde, honger & pestilence vpon them, & wil make them like vntymely fyges, that maye not be eate for bytternes. |
| 29:18 | And I wil persecute them with the swearde, with honger & death. I will delyuer them vp to be vexed of all kingdomes, to be cursed, abhorred, laughed to scorne, & put to confucion of all the people, amonge whom I haue scatred them: |
| 29:19 | & that because they haue not bene obedient vnto my commaundementes, (saieth the LORDE) which I sent vnto them by my seruauntes the prophetes. I stode vp early, and sent vnto them, but they wolde not heare, saieth the LORDE. |
| 29:20 | Heare therfore the worde of the LORDE, all ye presoners, whom I sent from Ierusale vnto Babilon: |
| 29:21 | Thus hath the LORDE of hoostes the God of Israel spoken, of Achab ye sonne of Colaias, & of Sedechias the sonne of Maasia, which prophecie lies vnto you in my name: Beholde, I wil delyuer them in to the honde of Nabuchodonosor the kinge of Babilon, that he maye slaye them before youre eyes. |
| 29:22 | And all ye presoners of Iuda that are in Babilon, shal take vpo them this terme of cursinge, and saye: Now God do vnto the, as he dyd vnto Sedechias & Achab, whom the kinge of Babilon rosted in the fyre, |
| 29:23 | because they synned shamefully in Israel. For they haue not onely defiled their neghbours wyues, but also preached lyenge wordes in my name, which I haue not commaunded them. This I testifie, & assure, saieth the LORDE. |
| 29:24 | But as for Semeia the Nehelamite, thou shalt speake vnto him: |
| 29:25 | Thus saieth the LORDE of hoostes the God of Israel: Because thou hast sealed lettres vnder thy name, vnto all the people that is at Ierusalem, & to Sophonias the sonne of Maasia the prest, yee and sent them to all the prestes: where in thou wrytest thus vnto him: |
| 29:26 | The LORDE hath ordened the to be prest in steade of Ioiada the prest, that thou shuldest be the chefe in the house of the LORDE aboue all prophetes, & preachers, & that thou mightest put them in preson, or in ye stockes. |
| 29:27 | How happeneth it then, that thou hast not reproued Ieremy of Anathot, which neuer leaueth of his prophecienge. |
| 29:28 | And beside all this, he hath sent vs worde vnto Babilon, and tolde vs planely, that oure captiuyte shal longe endure: that we shulde buylde vs houses to dwell therin, & to plante vs gardens, that we might enioye the frutes therof. |
| 29:29 | Which lettre Sophonias the prest dyd rede, and let Ieremy the prophet heare it. |
| 29:30 | Then came the worde of the LORDE vnto Ieremy, sayenge: |
| 29:31 | Sende worde to all them that be in captiuyte, on this maner: Thus hath the LORDE spoken concernynge Semeia ye Nehelamite: Because that Semeia hath prophecied vnto you without my commyssion, & brought you in to a false hope, |
| 29:32 | therfore thus the LORDE doth certifie you: Beholde, I wil vyset Semeia the Nehelamite, & his sede: so that none of his shall remayne amonge this people, & none of them shall se the good, yt I will do for this people, saieth the LORDE. For he hath preached falsely of the LORDE. |
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.