Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 22:1 | Afterwarde wete ye children of Israel, & pitched in ye felde of Moab beyonde Iordane by Iericho. |
| 22:2 | And whan Balac ye sonne of Ziphor sawe all that Israel had done vnto the Amorites, |
| 22:3 | and that the Moabites were sore afrayed of the people (yt was so greate) and that the Moabites stode in feare of the children of Israel, |
| 22:4 | he sayde vnto ye Elders of the Madianites: Now shal this heape licke vp all that is aboute vs, eue as an oxe licketh vp the grasse in the felde. (And Balac ye sonne of Ziphor was kynge of the Moabites at that tyme.) |
| 22:5 | And he sent out messaungers vnto Balaam the sonne of Beor, which was an interpreter. (The same dwelt by the water of the lande of ye children of his people) that they shulde call him, and he caused to saye vnto him: Beholde, there is come out of Egipte, a people, which couereth ye face of ye earth, and lyeth ouer agaynst me. |
| 22:6 | Come now therfore, and curse me this people, for they are to mightie for me, yf peraduenture I might be able to smyte them, and to dryue them out of the lande. For I wote, that whom thou blessest, he is blessed: and whom thou cursest, he is cursed. |
| 22:7 | And the Elders of the Moabites wente on with ye Elders of the Madianites, and had the rewarde of ye soyth sayenge in their handes, and they came vnto Balaam, & tolde him the wordes of Balaac. |
| 22:8 | And he saide vnto the: Tary here all night, & I will bringe you worde agayne, euen as the LORDE shal saye vnto me. So ye prynces of ye Moabites abode with Balaam. |
| 22:9 | And God came vnto Balaam, & sayde: What men are these, which are with ye? |
| 22:10 | Balaam sayde vnto God: Balac ye sonne of Ziphor the kynge of the Moabites hath sent vnto me: |
| 22:11 | Beholde, there is a people come out of Egipte, and couereth the face of the earth, come now therfore, & curse me the, yf peradueture I maye be able to fighte with them, & to dryue the out. |
| 22:12 | But God sayde vnto Balaam: Go not with them, & curse not that people, for they are blessed. |
| 22:13 | Then rose Balaam vp in the mornynge, & sayde vnto the prynces of Balac: Get you vnto youre londe, for the LORDE wyll not suffer me to go with you. |
| 22:14 | And the prynces of ye Moabites gat the vp, came to Balac, & saide: Balaam refuseth to come wt vs. |
| 22:15 | Then sent Balac yet a greater copany of prynces, & more honorable the they. |
| 22:16 | Whan they came to Balaam, they tolde him: Balac ye sonne of Ziphor sendeth ye this worde: Oh refuse not to come vnto me, |
| 22:17 | for I wyll promote the vnto hye honoure, & wil do what so euer thou sayest vnto me. Come I praye the, curse me this people. |
| 22:18 | Balaam answered, & sayde vnto ye seruautes of Balac: Yf Balac wolde geue me his house full of syluer & golde, yet coulde I not go beyonde ye worde of the LORDE my God, to do litle or greate. |
| 22:19 | Neuertheles tary ye here this night, yt I maye were, what the LORDE wil saye more vnto me. |
| 22:20 | Then came God to Balaam by night, & saide vnto him: Yf the men are come to call the, get the vp then, and go with the: but what I shal saye vnto the, that shalt thou do. |
| 22:21 | Then rose Balaam vp in the mornynge, & sadled his Asse, & wente wt the prynces of ye Moabites. |
| 22:22 | But the wrath of God waxed whote, because he wete. And the angell of ye LORDE stode in the waye, to withstode him. But he rode vpo his Asse, & two seruauntes wt him. |
| 22:23 | And ye Asse sawe ye angell of ye LORDE stodinge in ye waye, & his swerde drawen in his hade. And ye Asse turned a syde out of ye waye, & wete in to the felde. But Balaam smote her, yt she shulde go in the waye. |
| 22:24 | Then stode the angell of the LORDE in ye pathe by the vynyardes, where there were walles on both the sydes. |
| 22:25 | And whan ye Asse sawe the angell of the LORDE, she wrenshed vnto the wall, & thrust Balaams fote vnto the wall. And he smote her agayne. |
| 22:26 | The wete the angell of the LORDE farther, & stode in a narow place, where there was no waye to turne, nether to the righte hade ner to ye lefte. |
| 22:27 | And whan the Asse sawe the angell of the LORDE, she fell downe vnder Balaam. Then was Balaams wrath furious, & smote the Asse with a staffe. |
| 22:28 | Then opened the LORDE the mouth of ye Asse, and she sayde vnto Balaam: What haue I done vnto the, that thou hast smytten me now thre tymes? |
| 22:29 | Balaam sayde vnto ye Asse: Because thou hast mocked me. Oh yt I had a swerde now in my hande, I wolde kyll the. |
| 22:30 | The Asse sayde vnto Balaam: Am not I thine Asse, which thou hast rydden vpon in yi tyme vnto this daye? Was I euer wonte to do so vnto the? He sayde: No. |
| 22:31 | Then opened the LORDE the eyes of Balaam, yt he sawe ye angell of the LORDE stondinge in ye waye, & a drawe swerde in his hade. And he enclyned him selfe, & bowed downe wt his face. |
| 22:32 | And the angell of the LORDE sayde vnto him: Wherfore hast thou smytte thine Asse now thre tymes? Beholde, I am come out to resiste ye, for yi waye is frowarde, & cotrary vnto me. |
| 22:33 | And ye Asse sawe me, & auoyded fro me thre tymes: or els yf she had not turned asyde fro me, I had slayne the, & saued the Asse alyue. |
| 22:34 | Then sayde Balaam vnto ye angell of ye LORDE: I haue synned, for I wyst not, that thou stodest in the waye agaynst me. And now yf it displease ye, I wil turne agayne. |
| 22:35 | The angell of ye LORDE saide vnto him: Go with the me: but thou shalt speake nothinge els, then yt I shal saye vnto ye. So Balaam wente forth wt the princes of Balac. |
| 22:36 | Whan Balac herde yt Balaam came, he wente out to mete him (in the cite of the Moabites yt lieth on the coaste of Arnon, which is on ye vttemost border) |
| 22:37 | & sayde vnto him: Dyd not I sende for ye to call the? Wherfore camest thou not then vnto me? Thinkest thou yt I am not able to promote ye vnto honor? |
| 22:38 | Balaam answered him: Lo, I am come vnto ye But how can I saye eny thinge els, the yt God putteth in my mouth? yt I must speake |
| 22:39 | So Balaam wente with Balac, and they came vnto the cite on the vttemost border of his lande. |
| 22:40 | And Balac slewe oxen and shepe, and sent for Balaam, and for the prynces that were with him. |
| 22:41 | And in the mornynge, Balac toke Balaam, and they wete vp to the hye place of Baal, that from thece he might se vnto the vttemost parte of ye people |
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.