Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 1:1 | This is the worde of the LORDE, which came vnto Sophony the sonne of Chusi, the sonne of Gedolias, the sonne of Amarias ye sonne of Hezechias: in the tyme of Iosias the sonne of Amon kinge of Iuda. |
| 1:2 | I will gather vp all thinges in the londe (saieth the LORDE) |
| 1:3 | I wil gather vp man and beest: I wil gather vp the foules in the ayre, and the fysh in the see (to the greate decaye of the wicked) & wil vtterly destroye the men out of the londe, saieth the LORDE. |
| 1:4 | I wil stretch out myne honde vpon Iuda, and vpon all soch as dwel at Ierusalem. Thus wil I rote out the remnaunt of Baal from this place, and the names of the Kemuryns and prestes: |
| 1:5 | yee & soch as vpon their house toppes worshipe & bowe them selues vnto the hoost of heauen: which sweare by the LORDE, and by their Malchom also: |
| 1:6 | which starte a backe from ye LORDE, and nether seke after the LORDE, ner regarde him. |
| 1:7 | Be still at ye presence of the LORDE God, for the daye of the LORDE is at honde: yee the LORDE hath prepared a slayne offeringe, and called his gestes therto. |
| 1:8 | And thus shall it happen in the daye of the LORDES a slaynofferynge: I will vyset the prynces, the kinges children, & all soch as weere strauge clothinge. |
| 1:9 | In the same daye also wil I vyset all those, that treade ouer the thresholde so proudly, which fyll their lordes house wt robbery and falsede. |
| 1:10 | At ye same tyme (saieth the LORDE) there shall be herde a greate crie from the fyshporte, and an howlinge from ye other porte, and a greate murthur from the hilles. |
| 1:11 | Howle ye that dwel in the myll, for all the marchaunt people are gone, and all they that were laden with syluer, are roted out. |
| 1:12 | At the same tyme wil I seke thorow Ierusalem with lanternes, and vyset them that contynue in their dregges, and saye in their hertes: Tush, the LORDE wil do nether good ner euell. |
| 1:13 | Their goodes shalbe spoyled, and their houses layed waist. They shall buylde houses, and not dwel in them: they shal plante vynyardes, but not drynke the wyne therof. |
| 1:14 | For the greate daye of the LORDE is at honde, it is harde by, & commeth on a pace. Horrible is ye tydinges of the LORDES daye, then shall the giaunte crie out: |
| 1:15 | for that daye is a daye of wrath, a daye of trouble & heuynesse, a daye of vtter destruccion & mysery, a darcke & glomynge daye, a cloudy & stormy daye, |
| 1:16 | a daye of the noyse of trompettes and shawmes, agaynst the stronge cities and hie towres. |
| 1:17 | I wil bringe ye people into soch vexacion, that they shal go aboute like blinde me, because they haue synned agaynst the LORDE. Their bloude shalbe shed as the dust, & their bodies as the myre. |
| 1:18 | Nether their syluer ner their golde shalbe able to delyuer the in that wrothfull daye of the LORDE, but the whole londe shalbe cosumed thorow the fyre of his gelousy: for he shall soone make clene ryddaunce of all them that dwell in the londe. |
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.