Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 15:1 | And there came certayne fro Iewry, and taughte the brethren: Excepte ye be circumcysed after the maner of Moses, ye can not be saued. |
| 15:2 | Now wha there rose a discesion, and Paul and Barnabas had set them selues harde agaynst them, they ordeyned, that Paul and Barnabas and certayne other of them shulde go vp to Ierusalem vnto the Apostles and Elders, aboute this questio. |
| 15:3 | And they were broughte on their waye by ye cogregacion, & wente thorow Phenices and Samaria, and declared the conuersacion of the Heythen, and brought greate ioye vnto all the brethren. |
| 15:4 | Whan they came to Ierusale, they were receaued of ye cogregacion, & of the Apostles, and of the Elders, & they tolde how greate thinges God had done with the. |
| 15:5 | Then rose there vp certayne of the secte of ye Pharises (which beleued) and sayde: They must be circumcysed and comaunded, to kepe the lawe of Moses. |
| 15:6 | But the Apostles and Elders came together, to reason vpon this matter. |
| 15:7 | Now whan there was moch disputinge Peter rose vp, and sayde vnto the: Ye men and brethren, ye knowe that a good whyle agoo, God chose amonge vs, yt the Heythe by my mouth shulde heare the worde of the Gospell, and beleue. |
| 15:8 | And God the knower of hertes bare wytnesse ouer the, and gaue the the holy goost, like as vnto vs, |
| 15:9 | & put no dyfference betwixte vs & them, and purified their hertes thorow fayth. |
| 15:10 | Now therfore why tempte ye God, with layenge vpon ye disciples neckes the yocke, which nether or fathers ner we were able to beare? |
| 15:11 | But we beleue to be saued thorow the grace of the LORDE Iesu Christ, like as they also. |
| 15:12 | Then all ye multitude helde their peace, and gaue audience vnto Paul and Barnabas, which tolde how greate tokens and wonders God had done by the amoge the Heythen. |
| 15:13 | Afterwarde whan they helde their peace, Iames answered, and sayde: Ye men and brethren, herke vnto me, |
| 15:14 | Simo hath tolde, how God at the first vysited to receaue a people vnto his name from amonge the Heythen. |
| 15:15 | And vnto this agree ye wordes of the prophetes, as it is wrytte: |
| 15:16 | After this wyl I returne and wyl buylde agayne ye tabernacle of Dauid, that is fallen downe, and that which is fallen in decaye therof, wyl I buylde agayne, and wyl set it vp, |
| 15:17 | that the residue of men maye seke after the LORDE: & also the Heythen vpo whom my name is named, sayeth the LORDE, which doth all these thinges. |
| 15:18 | Knowne vnto God are all his workes from the begynnynge of ye worlde. |
| 15:19 | Wherfore my sentence is, that they which from amonge the Heythen are turned vnto God, be not disquyeted, |
| 15:20 | but to wryte vnto them, that they absteyne them selues from fylthynesse of Idols, from whordome, and from strangled, and bloude. |
| 15:21 | For Moses hath of olde tyme in euery cite them that preach him: and he is red in the synagoges euery Sabbath daye. |
| 15:22 | And the Apostles and Elders with the whole congregacion thoughte it good, to chose out men of them, and to sende them vnto Antioche with Paul and Barnabas, namely Iudas, whose syrname was Barsabas, and Sylas (which were chefe men amoge the brethre) |
| 15:23 | and gaue the letters in their handes after this maner: We the Apostles and Elders & brethren, wysh health vnto the brethre of the Heythe which are at Antioche, and Syria and Celicia. |
| 15:24 | For so moch as we haue herde that certayne of oures are departed, and haue troubled you, and combred youre myndes, sayenge: ye must be circumcysed, and kepe ye lawe (to whom we gaue no soch commaundemet) |
| 15:25 | it semed good vnto vs, beynge gathered together with one accorde, to chose out men, and to sende them vnto you, with oure beloued Barnabas and Paul, |
| 15:26 | men that haue ioperded their lyues for ye name of oure LORDE Iesus Christ. |
| 15:27 | Therfore haue we sent Iudas and Sylas, which shal also tell you the same with wordes. |
| 15:28 | For it pleased the holy goost and vs, to laye no charge vpon you, more then these necessary poyntes: |
| 15:29 | That ye absteyne from the offeringes of Idols, and from bloude, and from strangled, and from whordome. From the which yf ye absteyne youre selues, ye shal do well. Fare ye well. |
| 15:30 | Whan these were sent forth, they came vnto Antioche, and gathered the multitude together, and delyuered the epistle. |
| 15:31 | Whan they had red it, they were glad of that cosolacion. |
| 15:32 | As for Iudas & Sylas (which were prophetes also) they exorted ye brethre with moch preachinge, and stregthed them. |
| 15:33 | And whan they had taried there for a season, they were let go of the brethren in peace vnto the Apostles. |
| 15:34 | Notwithstondinge Sylas thoughte it good to byde there styll. |
| 15:35 | But Paul and Barnabas cotynued at Antioche, teachinge and preachinge the worde of the LORDE, with other many. |
| 15:36 | Neuertheles after certayne dayes Paul sayde vnto Barnabas: let vs go agayne, and vyset oure brethren thorow all the cities (wherin we haue shewed the worde of the LORDE) how they do. |
| 15:37 | But Barnabas gaue councell, that they shulde take with the Ihon, whose syrname was Marke. |
| 15:38 | Howbeit Paul thoughte it mete, not to take him with them, which departed from them in Pamphilia, and wente not with them vnto the worke. |
| 15:39 | And so sharpe was the strife betwene them, that they departed asunder ye one fro the other, and Barnabas toke Marke vnto him, and sayled vnto Cypers. |
| 15:40 | But Paul chose Sylas, and departed, beynge comytted of the brethren vnto the grace of God. |
| 15:41 | He wente thorow Syria and Celicia, stablishynge the congregacions. |
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.