Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 1:1 | In ye thirde yeare of ye raigne of Ioachim kynge off Iuda, came Nabuchodonosor kynge of Babilon vnto Ierusalem, & beseged it: |
| 1:2 | and the LORDE delyuered Ioachim the kynge off Iuda in to his honde, with certayne ornamentes of the house off God, which he caried awaye vnto the londe of Sennar, to the house of his god and there brought them in to his gods treasury. |
| 1:3 | And the kynge spake vnto Asphenes ye chefe chamberlayne, that he shulde brynge him certayne of the children of Israel, that were come of the kynges sede and of prynces, |
| 1:4 | yoge spryngaldes with out eny blemish but fayre ad welfauored, instructe in all wisdome, connynge and vnderstodinge: which were able to stonde in the kynges palace, to reade, and to lerne for to speake Caldeish. |
| 1:5 | Vnto these the kinge appoynted a certayne porcion of his owne meate and of the wine, which he drancke himselff, so to norish the thre yeare: that afterwarde they might stonde before the kynge. |
| 1:6 | Amonge these now were certayne of the children off Iuda: namely Daniel, Ananias, Misael and Azarias. |
| 1:7 | Vnto these the chefe chamberlayne gaue other names, and called Daniel, Balthasar: Ananias, Sydrac: Misael, Misac: and Asarias, Abdenago. |
| 1:8 | But Daniel was at a poynt wt himself, that he wolde not be defyled thorow the kynges meate, ner ye wyne which he droke. And this he desyred off the chefe chaberlayne, lest he shulde defyle himselff. |
| 1:9 | So God gaue Daniel fauoure and grace before ye chefe chamberlayne, |
| 1:10 | that he sayde vnto him: I am afrayed off my lorde the kynge, which hath appoynted you youre meate and drynke: lest he spye youre faces to be worse lykynge then the other spryngaldes of youre age, ad so ye shal make me loose my heade vnto ye kynge. |
| 1:11 | Then Daniel answered Melassar, whom the chefe chamberlayne had set ouer Daniel, Ananias, Misael and Asarias, and sayde: |
| 1:12 | O proue but ten dayes with thy seruauntes, and let vs haue potage to eate, and water to drynke: |
| 1:13 | then loke vpon oure faces, and theirs that eate off the kinges meate. And as thou seyst, so deale with thy seruauntes. |
| 1:14 | So he consented to them in this matter, ad proued the x. dayes. |
| 1:15 | And after ye ten dayes, their faces were better lykinge & fatter, then all the yonge spryngaldes, which ate of the kinges meate. |
| 1:16 | Thus Melassar toke awaye their meate and wyne, and gaue them potage therfore. |
| 1:17 | God gaue now these foure spryngaldes connynge and lernynge in all scripture and wisdome: but vnto Daniel specially, he gaue vnderstondinge off all visions and dreames. |
| 1:18 | Now when the tyme was expyred, that the kynge had appoynted to brynge in these yonge springaldes vnto him: the chefe chamberlayne brought them before Nabuchodonosor, |
| 1:19 | and the kynge commoned with them. But amonge them all were founde none soch as Daniel, Ananias, Misael, and Asarias. Therfore stode they before the kynge, |
| 1:20 | which in all wisdome and matters off vnderstodinge, that he enquered off them, founde them ten tymes better, the all the soythsayers and charmers, that were in all his realme. |
| 1:21 | And Daniel abode still, vnto the first yeare of kynge Cyrus. |
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.