Textus Receptus Bibles
Coverdale Bible 1535
| 8:1 | Saul had pleasure in his death. At ye same tyme there was a greate persecucion ouer the congregacion at Ierusale. And they were all scatered abrode in the regions of Iewrye & Samaria, excepte the Apostles. |
| 8:2 | As for Steuen, men yt feared God dressed him, and made greate lamentacion ouer him. |
| 8:3 | But Saul made hauocke of the congregacion, entred in to euery house, and drue out men & wemen, & delyuered the to preson. |
| 8:4 | They now yt were scatered abrode wete aboute & preached the worde. |
| 8:5 | The came Philippe in to a cite of Samaria, and preached Christ vnto them. |
| 8:6 | And the people gaue hede with one acorde vnto ye thinges that Philip spake, hearinge him, and seynge the tokes that he dyd. |
| 8:7 | For the vncleane spretes cryed loude, and departed out of many yt were possessed. And many that were sicke of the palsie and lame, were healed. |
| 8:8 | And there was greate ioye in the same cite. |
| 8:9 | But afore there was in ye same cite a certayne ma, called Simon, which vsed witche craft, and bewitched ye people of Samaria, sayenge, that he was a man which coulde do greate thinges. |
| 8:10 | And they all regarded him from the leest vnto ye greatest, & sayde: This is the power of God which is greate. |
| 8:11 | But they regarded him, because that of longe tyme he had bewitched them with his sorcery. |
| 8:12 | Howbeit whan they beleued Philips preachinge of ye kyngdome of God, and of the name of Iesu Christ, they were baptysed both me & weme. |
| 8:13 | Then Symon himself beleued also, and was baptysed, and cleued vnto Philippe. And wha he sawe the dedes and tokens that were done, he wondred. |
| 8:14 | Whan the Apostles which were at Ierusalem, herde, that Samaria had receaued ye worde of God, they sent vnto the Peter and Ihon. |
| 8:15 | Which, wha they were come, prayed for the, yt they might receaue the holy goost. |
| 8:16 | For as yet he was come vpon none of them but they were baptysed onely in the name of Christ Iesu. |
| 8:17 | Then layed they their hades on them, and they receaued the holy goost. |
| 8:18 | But whan Simon sawe, that by the layenge on of the Apostles hades ye holy goost was geuen, he offred the money, |
| 8:19 | and sayde: Geue me also this power, that, on whomsoeuer I put the hodes, he maye receaue the holy goost. |
| 8:20 | Howbeit Peter sayde vnto him: Perishe thou with thy money, because thou thinkest that ye gifte of God maye be optayned with money. |
| 8:21 | Thou shalt haue nether parte ner felashipe in this worde, for yi hert is not righte before God. |
| 8:22 | Repente therfore of this yi wickednesse, and praye vnto God, yf happly the thought of thy hert maye be forgeue ye. |
| 8:23 | For I se, yt thou art full of bytter gall, and wrapped in wt vnrighteousnesse. |
| 8:24 | Then answered Simon, & sayde: Praye ye vnto the LORDE for me, yt none of these thinges wherof ye haue spoken, come vpon me. |
| 8:25 | And they, wha they had testified and spoke the worde of the LORDE, turned agayne to Ierusalem, and preached the Gospell in many townes of the Samaritanes. |
| 8:26 | But the angell of the LORDE spake vnto Philippe, and sayde: Aryse, & go towarde the South, vnto the waye that goeth downe from Ierusalem vnto Gaza, which is deserte. |
| 8:27 | And he rose, and wente on. And beholde, a ma of the Morians lode (a chamberlayne and of auctorite with Candace ye quene of the londe of the Morians) which had the rule of all hir treasuries, ye same came to Ierusale to worshipe. |
| 8:28 | And returned home agayne, and satt vpon his charet, and red the prophet Esay. |
| 8:29 | The sprete sayde vnto Philippe: Go neare, and ioyne thy selfe to yonder charet. |
| 8:30 | The ranne Philippe vnto him, and herde him rede the prophet Esay, and sayde: Vnderstodest thou what thou readest? |
| 8:31 | He sayde: How can I, excepte some ma enfourme me?And he desyred Philippe, that he wolde come vp, and syt with him. |
| 8:32 | The tenoure of the scripture which he red, was this: He was led as a shepe to be slayne, and as a lambe voycelesse before his sherer, so opened he not his mouth. |
| 8:33 | In his humblenesse is his iudgment exalted. Who shal declare his generacion? for his life is taken awaye from the earth. |
| 8:34 | Then answered the chamberlayne vnto Philippe, and sayde: I praye the, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himselfe, or of some other man? |
| 8:35 | Philippe opened his mouth, and beganne at this scripture, and preached him the Gospell of Iesus. |
| 8:36 | And as they wete on their waye, they came to a water. And the chamberlayne sayde: Beholde, here is water, what hyndereth me to be baptysed? |
| 8:37 | Philippe sayde: Yf thou beleue from thy whole herte, thou mayest. He answered, and sayde: I beleue, that Iesus Christ is the sonne of God. |
| 8:38 | And he commaunded to holde styll the charet, and they wente downe in to the water, both Philippe and the chamberlayne. And he baptysed him. |
| 8:39 | But whan they were come vp out of the water, the sprete of the LORDE toke Philippe awaye. And the Chamberlayne sawe him nomore. But he wente on his waye reioysinge. |
| 8:40 | As for Philippe, he was founde at Assdod, and walked aboute, and preached the Gospell vnto all the cities, tyll he came to Cesarea. |
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.