Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 3:1 | Nabuchodonosor the kynge caused a golde ymage to be made, which was lx. cubites hye, and sixe cubites thicke. This he made to be set vp in the valley of Duran in the londe of Babilon |
| 3:2 | & sent out to gather together the dukes, lordes & nobles, the iudges and officers, the debites ad shreues, with all the rulers of the londe: yt they might come to the dedicacion of the ymage which Nabuchodonosor the kynge had set vp. |
| 3:3 | So the dukes, lordes and nobles, the iudges and officers, debytes and shreues with all the rulers of the londe gathered them together, and came vnto the dedicatynge of ye ymage, that Nabuchodonosor the kinge had set vp. Now when they stode before the ymage, which Nabuchodonosor set vp, |
| 3:4 | the bedell cried out wt all his might: O ye people, kynreddes and tunges, to you be it sayde: |
| 3:5 | that whe ye heare the noyse off the trompettes, which shalbe blowne, wt ye harpes, shawmes, Psalteries, Symphonies and all maner off Musick: ye fall downe and worshipe the golden ymage, yt Nabuchodonosor the kynge hath set vp. |
| 3:6 | Who so then falleth not downe and boweth himself, shal euen the same houre be cast in to an hote burnynge ouen. |
| 3:7 | Therfore, when all the folke herde the noyse off the trompettes that were blowne, with the harpes, shawmes, Psalteries, Symphonies and all kynde of Melody: the all the people, kynreddes and nacions fell downe, and bowed them selues vnto the golden ymage, that Nabuchodonosor the kynge had set vp. |
| 3:8 | Now were there certayne men off the Caldees, that went euen then and accused ye Iewes, |
| 3:9 | and sayde vnto kynge Nabuchodonosor: O kynge, God saue thy lyfe for euer. |
| 3:10 | Thou beynge kynge hast geuen a commaudemet, that all men when they heare the noyse off the trompettes, harpes, shawmes, psalteries, symphonies and all the other melodies: shall fall downe and bowe them selues towarde the golden ymage: |
| 3:11 | who so the fell not downe and worshipped not, that he shulde be cast in to an hote burnynge ouen. |
| 3:12 | Now are there certaine Iewes, whom thou hast set ouer the offices of the londe off Babilon: namely, Sydrac, Misac and Abdenago. These men (o kynge) regarde not thy comaundemet, yee they will not serue thy goddes, ner bowe them selues to the golden ymage, that thou hast set vp. |
| 3:13 | Then Nabuchodonosor in a cruell wrath and displeasure, commaunded, yt Sidrac, Misac & Abdenago shulde be brought vnto him. So these men were brought before the kynge. |
| 3:14 | Then Nabuchodonosor spake vnto them, and sayde: what? o Sidrac Misac and Abdenago, will not ye serue my goddes? nor bowe youre selues to the golden ymage, that I haue set vp? |
| 3:15 | wel, be redy herafter, when ye heare the noyse of the tropettes, blowne with the harpes, shawmes, psalteries, symphonies and all ye other melodies: that ye fall downe, and worshipe the ymage which I haue made. But yff ye worshipe it not, ye shal be cast immediatly in to an hote burnynge ouen. Let se, what god is there, yt maye delyuer you out of my hondes? |
| 3:16 | Sydrac, Misac and Abdenago answered the kynge, and sayde: O Nabuchodonosor, we ought not to cosente vnto ye in this matter, for why: |
| 3:17 | oure God whom we serue, is able to kepe vs from the hote burnynge ouen (O kynge) and can right wel delyuer vs out off thy hondes. |
| 3:18 | And though he wil not, yet shalt thou knowe (o kynge) that we will not serue thy goddes, ner do reuerece to the ymage, which thou hast set vp. |
| 3:19 | Then was Nabuchodonosor full off indignacion, so that ye countenaunce of his face chaunged vpo Sidrac, Misac & Abdenago. Therfore he charched and commaunded, that the ouen shulde be made seuen tymes hoter, then it was wote to be: |
| 3:20 | and spake vnto the strongest worthies that were in his hooste, for to bynde Sidrac, Misac and Abdenago, and to cast them in to the hote burnynge ouen. |
| 3:21 | So these men were bounde in their cotes, hosen, shues with their other garmentes, ad cast in to the hote burnynge ouen: |
| 3:22 | for the kinges commaundement was so strate, and the ouen was exceadynge hote. As for the men that put in Sydrac, Misac and Abdenago, the flame off the fyre destroyed them. |
| 3:23 | And these thre men Sydrac, Misac and Abdenago fell downe in ye hote burnynge ouen, beinge fast bounde. |
| 3:24 | Then Nabuchodonosor the kynge marueled, and stode vp in all haist: he spake vnto his councel and sayde: dyd not ye cast these thre men bounde in to the fyre? They answered, and sayde vnto the kynge: Yee o kynge. |
| 3:25 | He answered and sayde: lo, for all that, yet do I se foure men goinge lowse in the myddest off the fyre, and nothinge corrupte: and the fourth is like an angel to loke vpon. |
| 3:26 | Vpon this wete Nabuchodonosor vnto the mouth of the hote burnynge ouen: he speake also, & sayde: O Sydrac, Misac and Abdenago, ye seruauntes of the hye God: go forth, and come hither. And so Sydrac, Misac, and Abdenago wente out of the fyre. |
| 3:27 | Then the dukes, lordes and nobles, and the kynges councell came together to se these men, vpon whom the fyre had no maner of power in their bodies: In so moch that the very hayre of their heade was not burnt, and their clothes vnchaunged: Yee there was no smell of fyre felt vpon them. |
| 3:28 | Then spake Nabuchodonosor, and sayde: Blessed be the God of Sidrac, Misac & Abdenago: which hath sent his angel, ad defended his seruautes, that put their trust in him: yt haue altered the kynges commaundement, and ioperde their bodies thervpon: rather then they wolde serue or worshipe eny other god, excepte their owne God only. |
| 3:29 | Therfore I wil and commaude, that all people, kynreddes & tunges, which speake eny blasphemy agaynst the God of Sydrac, Misac and Abdenago, shal dye, and their houses shalbe prysed: Because, there is no God yt maye sane, as this. |
| 3:30 | So the kynge promoted Sidrac, Misac and Abdenago, in the londe of Babylon. |
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.